The TwoTailed Fox
by Camobamo1
Summary: This is a story about Tails before, when, and after he meets Sonic told through the eyes of Tails himself. Rated T for violence and swearing.
1. Part One

The Two-Tailed Fox

Part One

_How long has it been since I was left alone here? I always ask myself that question, but I was too young at that time to remember anything. I'm only six and a half years old, and yet I'm trying to fend for myself here on Westside Island. If it weren't for these two tails, I'd probably be living a normal life right now, but I guess it's just the luck of the draw. My name is Miles Prower, but everyone calls me Puny Two Tail…_

* * *

><p>"Ugh… I hope I can get some food today…" I say to myself. "Maybe someone actually put something uneaten in one of the trash cans." It's disgusting, yes, but I haven't eaten in two days. As I walk down the street, looking side to side for food, I get pelted by strings of offensive comments. "Whatcha looking for now, homeless fox?" mocks a young yellow hedgehog. "Aww, do you want food?" He holds out what's left of a hot dog, and my mouth starts to water as my legs uncontrollably move me toward it. As soon as I'm about to grab it, he pulls it away and shoves the whole thing in his mouth. After he swallows, he chuckles and walks away.<p>

My stomach growls at me to get some food in there. "Shut up!" I quietly exclaim to it, even though I know it won't. Why do I have to be bullied by everyone? I just wanted something to eat! All I've eaten in the past week are two cheeseburgers… Well, make that a cheeseburger and a half. One of the burgers was already half-eaten, but I digress… I resume my walking, once again looking high and low for something even partially edible, but instead of finding that, I find myself near the Westside Island Amusement Park.

The amusement park always looks amazing, but there's one thing that keeps me from going in there every time. "All children must be accompanied by an adult at all times," says the sign in front of my face. This time, however, I notice something else written messily under the main message. "This means you, Two Tail!" it reads. I immediately recognize the handwriting. "Rascal…" I say quietly. Andrew the Fox, better known by his nickname, Rascal, is the neighborhood bully around here, and I'm usually his victim. He and his cronies, Jacquelyn, aka Jack, and Robert, whose short name is Robb, are all ten years old.

I'm about to walk away when someone picks me up by my tails. Without even looking, I know who it is. "Oh, h-h-hey… Rascal…" I'm always careful not to call him Andrew. It never ends well when I do. As he turns me around, he says, "Hey, Two Tail. You look especially scared of me today." It's true, I'm usually scared of him, but I guess the fear must be showing in my eyes this time. Through those eyes, I see Rascal's brown eyes looking directly at them. I drop my gaze to avoid more eye contact and see his black vest and blue jeans covering much of his brown fur. "Were you trying to get into the amusement park? I thought we told you a thousand times: No freaks allowed here. Just for disobeying that, I think I'll have to punish you." Oh, boy, here it comes! He punches me square in the nose and winds up for a second one when I hear a female voice ask, "Rascal, are you already beating up on him? Why didn't you wait for me and Robb?"

Rascal drops me onto the ground, making me get covered in mud. I try to brush as much of it off as possible as I look at the female that just spoke. Of course, it just happens to be Jack, and Robb is standing next to her. Jack is a red cat with a black jacket, black jeans, and sunglasses on, and Robb is a black rabbit that isn't wearing anything besides shoes and gloves. Robb may be a rabbit, but I learned a long time ago not to underestimate him. I rub my nose as Rascal replies, "Sorry, Jack. I wasn't thinking." Jack sighs and responds, "Yeah, because that's a first," and slugs him hard on his right arm. Rascal immediately starts rubbing his arm and exclaims, "OW!"

I know I shouldn't say what I want to say, but I have to! "Can't take what you dish out, can you?" I ask mockingly. I instantaneously cover my mouth. I can't believe I said that! "What did you just say, Two Tail?" I stutter as I try to say, "I'm sorry, Rascal! I didn't mean it! HONEST!" He walks up to me and lifts me up by the white whiskers on my face. "I think," he starts as he clenches his gloved left fist. "you need to learn your lesson!" He punches me straight in the stomach right after releasing me, which sends me flying through the air for about a second before I once again land in the mud a few feet from the sidewalk.

Robb and Jack walk over to where I lie and kick me twice each as I try to hold back the vomit that was being forced up by Rascal's punch. "You never learn your lesson, do you, Puny Two Tail?" inquires Robb rhetorically. Jack laughs eerily before she mockingly says, "I wonder how hard he hit you. Oh, wait, you'd probably be able to figure it out. You are a geek after all." All three of the bullies laugh as Robb grabs me by my tails and carries me along with them. They start walking toward a park, where a large number of children have already gathered. Great… Now, here comes the public humiliation stage of the bullying.

"C'mon, Two Tail…" says Rascal. "It's time to play 'Freak versus Trash'!" Oh, no, this can't be good. One look at the grin on Rascal's face tells me that this won't end well for me. Within a few minutes, we reach the destination, where there sits a trash can underneath a tree branch. "You wanna do the honors, Rascal?" asks Robb as he hands me to Rascal. He takes both of my tails, one in each hand, lifts me up to the branch, and ties me to it loosely with my tails.

The horrendous stench of the garbage beneath me triggers my gag reflex as Rascal begins to speak in his rather unintimidating voice. "Well, now that we have little Miles tied to that branch, who wants to play 'Freak Versus Trash'?" The crowd of kids goes into an uproar before Rascal continues. "Okay, the rules are simple. You give us a dollar, and you get to whack Two Tail three times. The first person to hit him hard enough that he falls in the trash wins and gets three dollars."

I see a white dog walk up to me. As I look at him, pleading with my eyes for him not to do it, he takes a stick from Jack and whacks me in the stomach, near the spot where Rascal had punched me earlier. It hurts… a lot, but I try to be tough and take it like a man. After two more harsh blows, his dollar is up, and it's passed onto the next person. I outlast about ten people, but I can feel my tails starting to loosen up, and next, a blue cat comes and hits me on the stomach with enough force that I start to gasp for air, and as I do, my tails untie, and I fall into the disgusting vat of waste below me. I can hear everyone laughing as Robb puts a lid on the can.

I can feel someone carrying me somewhere, but I can't tell where, then the trash can is set down on its side… on a hill. I feel myself rolling down it, getting woozier with each rotation of the can. Finally, it comes to an end in about thirty seconds when it hits a tree, which it strikes with enough force that it sends me flying out. Then, I can't hold it in anymore, and I lose what was left of food in my stomach. Even if it weren't for the spinning, the stench of the trash alone may have induced that anyway. Everyone at the top of the hill laughs even harder as they see me vomit. Those kids have a sick and twisted sense of humor, if you ask me.

I lay there for about an hour or so, crying from the effects of today's bullying. Why does this have to happen to me? Why did I have to get this birth defect? Having two tails doesn't seem like a necessarily bad thing. So why, then? This question will probably never be answered. I get up and start walking away when I see a blue hedgehog that looks about thirteen years old pass by. He stops for a second after he makes eye contact with me. "Wait a second…" he starts. "You're that fox that Rascal was bullying earlier, aren't you." I sigh and respond, "Yeah, and so what if I am. Are you gonna laugh at me? Are you gonna make fun of my tails?"

The hedgehog shakes his head. "No." He then holds out two chili dogs, which I initially assume is to mock me, but then he says, "Go, ahead. Take them. I was gonna eat 'em, but I heard about how you don't get much to eat, so here." I'm a bit reluctant to take them, as I've never been offered anything honestly. However, instead of waiting for me to take them, he places them in my partially open hands. He smiles at me, then exclaims, "Well, see you later. Gotta speed, kid!" Without saying another word, he runs off to the southeast at what I swear are supersonic speeds. I didn't even get to ask his name…

I don't even remember when someone was last that generous to me. I look at the food in my hands, trying to grasp that it's real. I then slowly take a bite of one of the chili dogs, savoring it. After I swallow the first bite, I quietly say a thank you to that blue hedgehog. I sit down by a tree and eat the rest of the two chili dogs. So there is good out there. Who would have known?


	2. Part Two

Part Two

_It's been about half a year since I've last been near Rascal's territory, at least by myself. I haven't seen the blue hedgehog since then, but I've seen a lot more kindness around Westside Island. I guess I'm on the lookout for it, now. Even though I'm pretty young, I've received a job working for a mechanic in the eastern part of the island, and instead of paying me to do work, he takes care of me._

_The man I work for is an older red fox named Paul that apparently knew my parents. "I didn't know the Prowers' son was even alive," he said to me when I first told him my name. "I thought you, like your mother, died during the childbirth." I always ask him what happened to my father, but all he says is that "there was a huge accident". That's all he ever says about it, but I haven't asked in a while._

_I've grown rather close to Paul, close enough to call him Uncle Paul, even though he isn't really my uncle._

* * *

><p>"Miles, we've got a new plane to fix," says Uncle Paul as he pulls a red biplane marked "Tornado" into the garage. "It belongs to some hedgehog named Sonic. Looks like it was wrecked pretty bad, but I think we can fix it up." The plane is crumpled up a bit, and the propeller is missing one of its portions. "What in the world happened to this plane, Uncle Paul?" I ask. Uncle Paul lets out a short "hmm" before he replies, "He wouldn't say. He just asked me to fix it up for him, and he said he'd pay me whatever I ask for it when he picks it up."<p>

I nod, and then I think about how Uncle Paul and I are even going to start to fix the plane. It's pretty banged up, and I'm not sure we have all the parts we need. My self-assurance quickly plummets. "Uncle Paul," I start. "are you sure we're gonna be able to fix it?" He gives me a thumbs-up in reply and says, "Of course we are, Miles. It's gonna be a lot of work, but I think you're skilled enough to fix it. Even if you had to do it yourself." I smile and scratch the back of my head. "Thanks, Uncle Paul!" I exclaim. My confidence is rejuvenated as I grab a wrench. "Let's get started!"

Uncle Paul and I go into a frenzy as we start to undertake our biggest fix yet. We constantly yell at each other to hand one another different tools, or to help with certain tasks. Within three hours of our jumbled mess of working, the body of the biplane is off, and all that's showing are its inner mechanisms. "Well, I can see why he said it won't start, either. The wire from the ignition is completely severed, but I don't think I have the right type of wire to replace it. Miles, I need you to run out to the electrics shop in the western part of the island, the one near the amusement park, and see if they have any. Take this piece of wire," He cuts a small segment of the wire off from the main wire, and then continues, "and give it to them so they can see if they have any similar to it. Can you do that for me?" I nod, grab the piece of wire, and walk away from the shop toward my destination.

When I'm about a block away from the electrics shop, I hear an unintimidating voice behind me say, "Well, hey there, Two Tail." Two Tail? No one calls me that except… "Rascal…" I mutter. I turn around and see Rascal looking menacingly at me. "It's been a while, hasn't it? What's it been? Six months? It's really been six months since I last beat you up?" He cracks his knuckles and continues, "I think it's time to change that. I'm gonna have fun tonight." He approaches me, fist clenched, but when he gets close enough, I kick him in the stomach as hard as I can. "I don't think so!" I exclaim. He keels over, holding onto his stomach. "Just like last time!" I yell as I back a few feet away from him. "You can't take what you dish out!" He growls loudly at me, then charges at me with his shoulder facing me. When he gets about a foot away from me, I step off to the side, and he slams straight into the wall of a building.

He sits there for a few seconds, rubbing the shoulder that hit the wall, but after those few seconds, someone kicks me onto the ground from behind. I quickly roll over and stand up, and there stands Jack, and next to her, Robb. The next thing I know, Rascal is standing next to me as well, and I'm surrounded. "I'm gonna beat you up! Hard!" exclaims Rascal. There's nothing I can do as Robb and Jack grasp my wrists and restrain me. Rascal pulls back his fist, and launches it straight at my right eye. I feel the full impact of the punch as Jack and Robb release me, letting me fly backwards. I cover my eye as Rascal approaches me, but as he begins the motion of kicking, he's knocked back by a spiky blue wheel.

The wheel uncurls, revealing the blue hedgehog that gave me the food half a year ago. "You must have the most terrible luck in the world!" he exclaims. "Both times that I've ever seen you, those three have been beating you up." He puts his hand out for me to grasp. I do as such, and he pulls me up. "Thank you…" I say quietly. He winks and gives me a thumbs-up. "No prob. By the way, I'm Sonic, and you are?" I hesitate for a second, then answer, "Miles. Miles Prower."

Rascal gets up from the ground and says, "No, your name is Two Tail! And you're about to be Zero Tail, because I'm gonna beat you and your blue friend up so bad, even your own parents wouldn't be able to tell it was you. Well, if you had parents." Rascal tries to punch Sonic in the face, but he immediately ducks under. "You know, you have some serious anger issues," says Sonic as he dodges Rascal's next barrage of punches. "You should see a psychiatrist about that."

Rascal is even angrier as he charges at Sonic the same way he did to me. Except, unlike me, Sonic waits until Rascal is about an inch away from him, then quickly steps off to the side, making Rascal lose his balance and fall into the mud underneath him. Rascal gets up and starts once again to bombard Sonic with punches, the dodging of which he becomes preoccupied with as Jack and Robb approach me. "I think you've caused enough trouble for us, Two Tail," says Jack as she pushes me backwards. I then realize that I am literally inches from the edge of a cliff. Then, Robb says the most clichéd line in the world as he pushes me back once more, "Have a nice _trip_! See you next _fall_!" I fall for about a second, but just as I'm about to pass it, I grab the ledge and hold on for dear life.

"HELP! HELP ME!" I yell as loud as I can. I hear Sonic knock Rascal back, then see him mow Jack and Robb down while he is rolling like a wheel. Then, the unthinkable happens… The part of the ledge that I'm on breaks off of the cliff, and I start to fall. "SOOOOONIIIIIIC!" I exclaim. Sonic then does the craziest thing I think I've ever seen. He jumps off after me and shouts, "Hang on, Miles!" He dives to speed up, and about halfway through the fall, he catches up with me and grabs my hand. "I hope you don't get dizzy very easily!" I'm about to ask why before he starts spinning. Yes! I do get dizzy easily! "HOLD ON!" As we approach the ground, I scream at the top of my lungs.

But instead of crashing into the ground, we drill right through it. "Hold on, Miles! We're gonna turn back up!" After he says that, I close my eyes and wait until we stop spinning to open them again. "You okay, Miles?" He asks as he once again puts his hand out. I grasp it and he helps me up yet again. I feel like I'm going to vomit as I stand up, but then the pain starts to hit from my eye. I cover it up to help dull the pain. I now realize that Rascal, Jack, and Robb are nowhere to be seen. "What happened to them?" I ask. Sonic lets out a small chuckle as he replies, "Oh, I think the lesson I taught them actually made it to their brains. I have a feeling they won't be bothering you for a while." Then, he looks at the eye I'm covering. Sensing what he's trying to do, I uncover it.

"Hmm… That's not good," he states. I cover it back up as I inquire, "What? What's not good?" Sonic sighs and answers, "You have a really bad black eye. We need to get you some ice, pronto. Where do you live?" I point to the east and say, "I live with a mechanic on the eastern part of the island. I don't know exactly where it is, but I'd know it when I see it." Sonic's mouth opens for about two seconds before he says, "Wait a second, I dropped my plane off to get fixed at a mechanic's workshop earlier today. Is that where you live?" It then registers in my mind that this is the same Sonic whose red biplane we were fixing. I nod in reply to his question, and he picks me up and starts running at speeds I've never even dreamed of going before.

Within only about thirty seconds, we arrive at my workshop, and Sonic puts me down. As we walk into the workshop, I yell, "Uncle Paul, I'm back!" Without even looking away from his work, he says, "Oh, Miles. You're gonna hate me for this, but I actually found the right wire here and…" That's when he looks at me and asks, "My goodness, Miles, what happened to your eye? And what's Sonic doing here, too?" I'm about to speak, but then Sonic does instead. "Sir, I can explain everything. You see—" I interrupt Sonic by saying, "Please, Sonic. Let me tell him." Sonic nods, and I continue, "I had encountered Rascal and his gang again, and Rascal had punched me in the eye. Sonic came along and stopped them from bullying me, and… he kinda also saved my life."

"Saved your life? What happened?" asks Uncle Paul. I'm once again about to speak, but Sonic says, "I don't mean to be rude, sir, but I think Tails really needs some ice for his eye… I mean Miles…" Ignoring Sonic's little slip-up with my name, Uncle Paul nods and says, "Wait here." as he walks out of the garage and into the house. "Sorry about that," says Sonic as he chuckles. "I didn't mean to mess up on your name." I smile and say, "It's fine, Sonic. I actually kinda like it. Tails… Yeah, it has a nice ring to it. I don't really like the name 'Miles' that much, anyway." I laugh as Uncle Paul walks out with a bag of ice wrapped in a small towel. He hands it to me and I put it on my eye.

"So, what happened?" he asks. "I…" I start. "I was hanging on the edge of a cliff because Robb had pushed me back off of it, and then the part that I was hanging onto broke off. After that, I thought Sonic was demented, because he jumped off after me, grabbed me, spun to drill through the ground beneath us, and drilled us back up to the top. The only way I can describe it is by saying that Sonic is superhuman." Sonic sighs and responds, "Well, I wouldn't say it was _that_ much…" He has to be completely kidding me. "But it was!" I exclaim. "That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!" Sonic just says, "If you say so, Tails…"

"So, Sonic," says Uncle Paul. "your plane will probably be done within three or four days. I'd say to come by on Friday to pick it up." Sonic nods and asks, "Do you have any idea how much it'll cost to fix? I can pay you right now if you need." Uncle Paul just shakes his head. "You don't need any money to pay me. I'm just happy that my nephew is alive. That's all the payment I require." Sonic shakes his head as well. "Well, I'm not gonna take my plane back without paying you first, so here. Take this. Use it to buy something for you or Tails." He hands Uncle Paul a one-thousand-dollar bill. Am I seeing things? That's the most we've ever received at one time.

Knowing that trying to hand it back to Sonic is futile, Uncle Paul just says, "Thank you." and puts it in his wallet. "So, why do you keep calling him Tails?" Sonic smiles and replies, "Well, the first time, it was an accident, but then he told me that he actually likes it a lot better than Miles." He looks up at the clock on the wall of the garage, which reads six o'clock. "Well, looks like I've gotta juice! Catch ya later!" He waves at me and Uncle Paul as he speeds out. "Bye, Sonic!" I yell. "See ya later, Tails!" he shouts back.


	3. Part Three

Part Three

_While it wasn't easy, Uncle Paul and I repaired the Tornado by today, Friday, but not before we had some fun with the money that Sonic gave us. Uncle Paul and I pigged out on food for the past few days, and I think that's the most I've ever eaten in my entire life. However, now, instead of eating as much as we can, we're waiting for Sonic._

* * *

><p>I'm sitting here in the small office with my eyes closed, being bored out of my mind. "How much longer do you think it'll be before he gets here?" I ask Uncle Paul, but then I hear, "Before who gets here?" from someone other than him. I open my eyes, and there stands Sonic. I exclaim his name as I stand up from the chair I'm on. "Hey, Tails," he says. "How's my plane?" Uncle Paul stands up from his chair as well and replies, "It's good as new. I had Miles fly it around to make sure that it was working." Sonic smiles as he says, "Whoa, Tails, I didn't know you're a pilot." I scratch the back of my head as I respond, "Well, yeah, sort of."<p>

"Sort of?" asks Uncle Paul rhetorically. "You're the best pilot I've ever seen." Am I really? I've never really thought that I'm a good pilot, just a decent one. "Anyway, Miles, can you help me push the plane out of the garage?" I nod and Sonic and I follow him out to the garage. When we get out there, Sonic's eyes widen as he sees the Tornado. "Wow! I'm impressed. You guys work well and fast. I didn't think it could be fixed up this well after Eggman trashed it." I raise one eyebrow as I ask, "Who's Eggman? And what's with his name?" Sonic smiles as he replies, "Oh, his real name's Ivo Robotnik. He's just some mad doctor whose plans of world domination I always foil. He says he's gonna build 'Eggmanland' on the remains of Mobius, but I don't think that's gonna happen while I'm around." I laugh because it seems like something a little child would make up. "Tails, I'm telling the truth, you know." I smile and say, "I know, Sonic."

Uncle Paul and I get behind the plane and start to push. After a few seconds, Sonic complains, "This is gonna take ages!" He runs to the back of the plane and pushes while running at supersonic speeds, which gets it out into the small runway in about a second. "Done!" he exclaims. He hops in and starts the two engines of the plane, which whir as they warm up. And then, I notice something that I don't think I've ever noticed before because of the propeller on the Tornado. I found out a long time ago that I could spin my tails extremely fast, but I never found a way to put that to use. Now, I think I have. I walk outside and start to spin my tails. At first, it does nothing, but as I speed them up, I can feel them blowing a lot of air. Then I close my eyes and jump…

"Whoa, Tails! Am I seeing things, or are you actually doing that?" asks Sonic as he shuts off the Tornado. I open my eyes and see the ground, but it's much further away than it was before. I look around and realize… "Oh, my goodness! I… I'm flying! I'm actually flying! Whee!" I start to move around, enjoying my newfound ability. I never dreamt that I could fly in a million years. "Sonic! Uncle Paul! Look at me! Isn't this great?" Uncle Paul smiles and says, "I always knew those tails would come in handy." Sonic holds his thumb up and exclaims, "Way past cool, Tails! How are you even doing that, anyway? That completely defies physics!"

I shrug and reply, "I dunno, but so does your running." Sonic puts his finger on his chin and responds, "Touché." I wonder how fast I can go with these tails. "Hey, Sonic," I start. "how fast can you go?" Sonic moves his finger across his nose and answers, "Oh, about one thousand two hundred miles an hour." Wow! That's fast, and one look at his green eyes tells me that he's not lying. "I wanna find out how fast I can go," I say. "Let's have a race to the other side of the island."

"All right, Tails, you've got yourself a deal," says Sonic. "Let's start right now. Mr… um… What's your last name?" he asks Uncle Paul. Uncle Paul shakes his head and replies, "Just call me Paul, Sonic." Sonic nods and continues, "Paul, I'll look after Tails. I promise. Okay, Tails, the starting point is right…" Sonic walks up to a crack in the sidewalk. "here." He stands on the line and waits for me to do the same. When I'm there, Sonic asks, "You ready, Tails?" I nod. "Ready, set…" I wind up my tails. "GO!" I quickly release them and spin them as fast as I can, and, surprisingly, I'm actually keeping up with Sonic.

"Whoa! Nice job, Tails!" exclaims Sonic after about ten seconds. I smile and ask, "How fast do you think we're going about now?" Sonic scratches his head for a second and replies, "I'd say about seven hundred or so miles an hour. Let's speed up!" As we accelerate, Sonic starts saying how fast we're going. "Seven hundred twenty-five! Seven hundred fifty! We're about to break the sound barrier!" I hear a sonic boom as Sonic speeds up even more, but I can't break the sound barrier. I'm not quite that fast.

Within about thirty seconds, I make it to the other end of the island, where Sonic stands, tapping his foot. "I'm waiting!" he exclaims jokingly. "That was pretty good, Tails. I've never had someone keep up with me at those speeds. Anyway, let's head back now." I nod and turn back around. Sonic runs beside me this time, instead of trying to get ahead of me.

When we get back to the workshop, Uncle Paul is still standing in the same spot that he was. "Well I'll be darned!" he exclaims. "You kids were only gone for two minutes!" I can understand his surprise. "Well, we were going pretty fast, Uncle Paul," I say as I walk toward him. "I went up to seven hundred fifty miles per hour! Almost as fast as sound!" Sonic walks up to us and says, "Well, guys, I think it's time I take my leave. Thanks again for fixing the Tornado." As he starts to walk to the Tornado, I ask him, "Hey, Sonic, where do you live, anyway? I hope it's not too far." Sonic stops dead in his tracks before replying, "I don't really live anywhere. I spend most of my time on South Island, but I don't have a house or anything."

He… doesn't? He must get so lonely sometimes. I know I used to. I just wish there were something I could do for him… Wait a second, maybe there is. "I know!" I exclaim. "Why don't you stay with us, Sonic?" Sonic and Uncle Paul both say, "What?" in unison. Then, Sonic continues as he faces me, "I… don't know, Tails. I mean, yeah, it would be nice to have someplace to stay, but I don't want to impose…" Uncle Paul sighs quietly, then says, "Sonic, if you'd like, you can stay here with us. We've got more than enough room, and I think Miles would really like it if you did."

"Please, Sonic?" I beg him. I really want him to stay. I don't know why, but I feel like he and I are going to become really good friends. Sonic closes his eyes for a second, pondering. Man, I hope he says yes… "I'm sorry…" My heart immediately drops. "but I'm gonna stay here, South Island! I hope you don't miss me too much." He's really staying? As the thought sinks in, my tails start wagging. "YA-HOO!" I yell at the top of my lungs.

This has to be the happiest I've ever felt besides the day Uncle Paul took me in. "Welcome to the family, Sonic!"


	4. Part Four

Part Four

_ Man, I can't believe it's been more than a year since Sonic started living with us. Over the course of that year, we've become as close as brothers to each other. I swear that I've had more fun this year than all of the ones before it combined. I don't get to see as much of Sonic as I thought I would, though. Often times, he's out trying to thwart Eggman's plans. Well, I shouldn't say trying, but rather succeeding. I still get to see him a lot, however._

_ I remember celebrating his fifteenth birthday. We tried to throw him a surprise party, but that kind of failed, mainly because I think Sonic isn't easily surprised. Yet, the party was still great. Sonic said it was the first birthday of his that he had ever celebrated, and he gave me thanks for throwing him a party._

_ Shortly after that, however, Sonic had thrown a birthday party for me. For my eighth birthday, he gave me two motors for a biplane that I am building called the "Tornado-2"._

_ But right now, I am once again waiting for Sonic…_

* * *

><p>"Wait, Sonic!" Who on Mobius is that? "G-get off! I'm serious, Amy! Just because I saved you doesn't mean I love you!" Now I'm kind of curious. I walk outside and see a pink hedgehog whose quills are combed down clinging to Sonic. Meanwhile, Sonic is trying to push her away without much success. "Hey, Tails, a little help here, please?" What in the world could I do to help him? I just shrug. "Oh, Sonic, who's this?" asks the pink hedgehog, Amy, as she lets go of Sonic. Sonic looks at me and replies, "Oh, that's my brother, Tails." Amy walks up to me and exclaims, "He's so cute!" She starts pinching my cheeks as she continues. "He's the most adorable thing on Mobius! Well, next to Sonic, anyway."<p>

After she stops, I say, "I'm not cute! I'm handsome!" Then, she pulls a mallet seemingly out of nowhere and says, "You're cute, got it? If you don't comply, I'll be forced to use my Piko-Piko Hammer on you." I gulp loudly and nod. I'll gladly comply. I don't want to die today. "So, Sonic," I start. "why is she with you, anyway?" Sonic sighs before he replies, "Well, I rescued her from a robotic clone that Eggman made of me called Metal Sonic, but never mind about that. How's Uncle Paul?"

I forgot to mention… Uncle Paul fell ill with a terrible case of pneumonia about a month ago. The doctor says it will most likely pass, but his condition's been getting worse and worse. "Not so good, Sonic. He's been coughing up a storm." Sonic usually tries to cover up sadness and anger, but I can see the worry in his eyes as I tell him, "And I think it's getting worse…" and his normally cheerful demeanor quickly vanishes. "You're uncle's sick, Sonic?" asks Amy. Sonic nods and answers, "Yes, with pneumonia. Really bad pneumonia." Sonic starts walking toward the house. "I'm gonna go check on him."

Amy and I follow him into the house and up to Uncle Paul's room, and I already hear a fit of coughing. We walk into the room, and Sonic says as cheerfully as he can, "Hey, Uncle Paul. I'm home." Uncle Paul sits up in his bed and slides back so his back can be supported by the bedframe and looks at the three of us before he starts coughing again. "So, is that your new girlfriend, Sonic?" asks Uncle Paul after his fit. Sonic's eyes widen as he replies, "Are you kidding me? No way!" while at the same time, Amy answers, "Yes, yes, and yes!"

Uncle Paul tries to laugh, but once again lapses into a cough. "Ugh… I wish I were feeling better. What's your name, young lady?" Amy smiles as she introduces herself. "I'm Amy Rose. It's nice to meet you, sir." She curtsies to him. After a few relatively small coughs, Uncle Paul responds, "No need to be that polite around me, Amy… but I don't think you all should be up here for too long. You might catch something." Sonic and I nod and we leave the room. "See you later, Uncle Paul," I say as I wave to him.

We walk down to the living room, where we all sit on the couch. Sonic sighs through his nose, at which point I can tell he's trying to hold back tears. He and I are thinking the same thing: the worst-case scenario. I wish I weren't thinking about that, but it's hard not to…

To get my mind off of the subject, I ask, "So, Sonic, what was Eggman up to this time?" He sniffles very quietly before he answers, "Well, he was trying to chain Little Planet down to Mobius. It was completely crazy trying to free it. I had to travel into the past and future just to stop him. And then I destroyed Metal Sonic and saved Amy… Speaking of Amy, do you have a place to stay?" Amy shakes her head. "My house is really far away. Out near Station Square."

"You can stay here tonight if you would like," says Sonic. "The guest room is open." Amy nods and replies, "Okay." And after that, since it's about ten o'clock, we go to bed for the night.

* * *

><p>I can't sleep… I'm way too worried about Uncle Paul to do so. Ever since he got sick, I've been like this every night, and some of them, like tonight, I've been crying. I can hear Sonic tossing and turning in the bunk above me as well, making me think that he's restless, too. After a while of not being able to fall asleep, I ask, "Sonic, are you still awake?" I hear him turn once and reply, "Yeah. What's up, Tails?"<p>

I sigh and answer, "Is Uncle Paul… Is he gonna be alright? Is he gonna get better?" Sonic hops down from the top bunk and lands quietly with his usual dexterity before sitting down with me on my bed. "You want me to be honest with you?" I nod. "Well… I want to think that he is, and I did when I was beating on Eggman, but now that I've seen him… I wish I could say that he's gonna be alright, Tails. I really do, but… I don't think he's going to make it through this one…"

Sonic is almost always optimistic. Seeing him like this is very bizarre… The thing is, though, Sonic would never tell a lie, even to Eggman. I don't want to believe him. The thought of losing Uncle Paul is too much for me to bear. Tears start to well up in my eyes. Then, I burst into tears and hug Sonic. "I don't want him to die, Sonic!" I cry out. For about five minutes, I weep into Sonic's shoulder. After that, Sonic says to me, "Promise me something, Tails. Promise me that, if anything happens, you'll be strong. All right?"

I sniffle and mumble, "Okay…" Sonic nods, and as he gets up on the top bunk again, he says, "Try to get some sleep. Good night, Tails. I love you, li'l bro." I wipe the tears off my face and reply, "Love you, too, Sonic," as I settle into my blanket and drift off to sleep…

* * *

><p>"Tails! Wake up!" Sonic keeps shaking me… "I don't wanna get up yet, Sonic…" I mumble. "Five more minutes…" I put my pillow over my face. "Miles Prower, get out of bed right now!" he almost yells as he rips the pillow away from me. "Hey!" I exclaim as I open my eyes, and that's when I notice an expression of worry on his face. "What's wrong, Sonic?" I ask. "It's Uncle Paul!" he replies. "He's been gasping for air and coughing worse than ever! I've already had Amy call the hospital, but I think you need to go see him." No! It's already happening? I find myself suddenly fully awake as I rush down the hall to Uncle Paul's room.<p>

Before I even get there I can hear the disheartening coughs and gasps that Uncle Paul is producing. Shortly after I arrive in the room, Uncle Paul stops coughing and quietly says, "Miles… Come here… I need to tell you something…" He motions with his hand for me to come to him, which I do. After he coughs for a straight twenty seconds, he gasps for air, then says, "I've always told you that your father died in an accident… but that's not the entire truth… If I don't tell you now, then you may never know… Your father, he was… shot by a robot with the name 'Robotnik' on it…"

"You mean…" starts Sonic from behind me. "that an Eggman robot killed Tails' father?" Uncle Paul nods and enters another coughing fit before starting again. "Whether Eggman knew about it or not, his robot had just killed an innocent man… I was there when it happened, and your mother about had a heart attack… It was only five days before your birthday…" Sonic punches his palm and says, "Now that's low, even for Eggman."

I hear sirens outside the house, and within about a minute, a small rescue team of two people puts Uncle Paul on a gurney and takes him out to an ambulance. Once he is in the ambulance, Sonic, Amy, and I follow it to the hospital, and sit in the waiting room.

I'm crying… a lot… Why did this have to happen? I don't want Uncle Paul to die. He was the only one who would take me in. He was the only one who supported me. When he started to take care of me, he was the only one who regarded me as a real person, and not as some homeless freak with a birth defect.

After about twenty minutes of crying, I quietly say, "This is all my fault, Sonic…" I sniffle loudly before Sonic exclaims, "No, Tails! It's not your fault! Why on Mobius would it be your fault?" I sigh and reply, "Because, Sonic, I'm the one who fell into that frozen lake in the first place. He wouldn't have had to jump in after me had I not fallen in." Sonic shakes his head before he responds, "That was an accident, Tails. He did what a good guardian is supposed to do and saved you. It's no one's fault." Still, that doesn't make me feel any better.

* * *

><p>We've sat here for about three hours, waiting, hoping, and our wait is finally over when a doctor walks through the door. He looks at me and asks, "Are you the child that Mr. Fuchs was taking care of? Miles Prower?" I nod, but then the word "was" registers in my mind as he says, "I'm sorry, Miles… but…" No… No, no, no! Why? Why now? I immediately break down. I yell the word "no" as loud as I can. Sonic opens his arms and calmly says, "C'mere, Tails." I return his gesture by nearly knocking him over as I hug him tightly. "It's gonna be alright, Tails… Everything's gonna be alright…" Sonic is always very composed when in front of anyone other than me, so right now, I can tell that he's struggling not to do the same thing I am.<p>

I'm devastated… I really am… I don't know what to do at this point… The only thing I can take comfort in is the fact that Sonic will be there for me… "I… I… I wish he didn't have to go, Sonic… I wish he could've stayed here with us…" Sonic sighs and states, "Everyone has their time, Tails. This was Uncle Paul's." I sniffle and exclaim, "But it's just not fair! For you, or for me, or for Uncle Paul…"

"You guys were… really close, weren't you?" asks Amy. Since Sonic realizes that I don't really feel like talking to anyone else right now, he answers, "They were about as close as a real father and son." Sonic lets go of me and says, "C'mon, Tails. Let's go home… Amy, do you mind finding somewhere else to stay tonight? Please?" Amy nods. "I understand, Sonic, but don't forget that, when you guys are better, I'll be back." She leaves the hospital.

"Sir," Sonic starts to the doctor. "I'd like to request that Paul be put in a mortuary until we can arrange a funeral for him." The doctor nods and replies, "I'll make sure of it, Mr. Sonic." I'm about to ask how he knows Sonic's name, but I realize that, since Sonic is pretty much famous for thwarting Eggman's plans, everyone knows his name. We walk out of the room, and I'm still crying…


	5. Part Five

Part Five

_ It's been six days… six days since Uncle Paul passed away… and his funeral was yesterday… Even though I have Sonic with me, I feel like I did when I was homeless… I don't feel happy… I haven't smiled since Sonic came home with Amy a week ago. Sonic's been comforting me as well as he can, although he's not taking this too well, either._

_ In memory of Uncle Paul, I finished the Tornado-2 yesterday, and it runs perfectly, just as Uncle Paul had wanted it to…_

_ Today, however, I have to go to the court. They're going to decide where I need to go…_

* * *

><p>"Miles Prower…" says the judge, an elderly owl. "Mr. Paul Fuchs was your guardian, and Mr. Sonic the Hedgehog would like to take care of you. Is this correct?" I nod and reply, "Yes, sir." The judge hums shortly before he asks, "Mr. Hedgehog, how old are you?" Sonic confidently answers, "Fifteen years old, sir." Trying hard not to sound disrespectful, the judge responds, "I see. How do you believe that you are qualified?"<p>

"Well, sir, I don't really know if I am qualified or not," starts Sonic. "but Tails and I are like brothers to each other, and I think it would be best for him to stay with someone that he is close to." I really hope I can at least stay with Sonic. I don't want to move in with someone else. "Well…" says the judge. "I believe that I am ready to come to a decision. Miles Prower, there is already a small family on South Island that would like to take you in. Mr. Hedgehog, while it would be best in the short term for Miles to continue living with you, I'm afraid that the same could not be said about the long-term effects. I assure you, however, that Mrs. Vanilla the Rabbit and her daughter, Cream, would be happy to have Miles in their home, and that they would take excellent care of him."

Sonic shakes his head and responds, "Not to be disrespectful, sir, but I fully disagree. I'm sure that Mrs. Rabbit would be great guardian for Tails, but I'm not so sure about the long-term effects being better whether he stays there or with me. I realize that I am not really an adult yet, but still… I think I'm more than ready to take care of Tails, sir." The judge quietly sighs, and if I didn't have such good hearing, I probably wouldn't have heard it. "I am not completely certain, Mr. Hedgehog." The judge pauses for a few seconds. I can't stand this! Amy said I'm cute… Maybe that's something I need to take advantage of.

I throw the judge a pleading look, trying to look as cute as I can while doing it. "I…" starts the judge. "believe it would be best if…" He tries to look away from me, but finds himself looking right back at me after a few seconds. "Don't try to pout your way out of this, Mr. Prower!" yells the judge. I quickly wipe the pout off my face as he continues in a more composed fashion. "You will be staying with Mrs. Rabbit, and this decision is final. Sonic the Hedgehog will not be staying with you, either. He can either go live on his own, or try to find a home elsewhere."

"You've gotta be kidding me!" says Sonic. "Sir, please let Tails stay with me. I promise I'd take good care of him. I cross my heart and hope to die!" Tears start flowing from my eyes as I beg, "Please, Mr. Judge, sir, I wanna stay with Sonic… He's the closest thing I have to a family…" The judge rubs his temples for a second, then responds, "Absolutely not, Mr. Prower. No more arguing this case. Unless it says in your guardian's will that he wanted Sonic to look after you, then the court's decision is final." Even more tears begin to flow from my eyes, and I begin making audible sounds of crying.

That's kind of harsh. "Okay, that's it!" exclaims Sonic. "Nobody makes my little brother cry! Nobody! I can't stand to see him like that!" Sonic begins to calm down as he continues, "You can't just separate us like this! If you separate us, he's just gonna cry even more! We're brothers!"

I can tell the judge is getting even angrier as he replies, "You two are not biological brothers, correct? And you've only known each other for a year and a half. I don't see any harm in separating two friends for some time." I can't take this anymore! "Don't you have a heart?" I shout. I did _not_ seriously just say that! Did I? The judge points toward the door and yells, "Out! Someone will come pick you up and take you to South Island. And a judge doesn't need a heart!" I look at him as menacingly as I can manage and respond, "I don't need to be picked up. I can fly there in my plane. And before you say anything, I have a pilot's license, so I'm fully trained when it comes to flying."

"I will give you a day to say your good-byes," starts the judge. "then, if you aren't at Mrs. Rabbit's home, I will send someone. Good day to you." Sonic and I walk out of the court room and start the walk home. "That judge… He makes me so furious!" exclaims Sonic. "He didn't respect either of our opinions. Doesn't he make you mad, too, Tails?" I only nod. I'm too depressed to do anything else. Sonic and I are silent for the rest of the ten-minute walk home.

We walk inside the house and sit on the couch, and that's when I completely lose it. "Sonic! I don't wanna leave you!" I yell through my loud sobbing. I cover my face with my hands and cry into them as Sonic puts his left arm around me. "I'm losing someone important to me all over again! Why does my life have to be so unfair? Why couldn't I have been born with only one tail? Why did my parents have to die? Why did Uncle Paul have to die? Why can't I live with you?" Sonic just sighs and responds, "I honestly don't know, Tails. I just don't know, but I promise I'll come visit. A lot."

I slightly nod and continue crying. I don't want to leave Sonic! I just have this feeling that he and I aren't going to see each other for a while, but I can't put my finger on why. "Hey, why don't we go say good-bye to Amy? Okay?" asks Sonic. I wipe the tears from my face and nod. We walk down to the hotel that Amy's staying at, which is about a five minute walk. When we get to the door of her room, we knock, and there she stands when it opens.

"Sonic!" she exclaims as she latches onto him. When Sonic makes no effort to push her off, she immediately realizes that something is wrong. She takes a good look at both of us and asks, "Why so down? Are you guys still that depressed about it?" Sonic shakes his head and answers, "No, it's not that right now. Tails can't live with me anymore. He has to go live with a family on South Island without me. We've come here so he can say good-bye." Amy's joyful demeanor vanishes, and she says, "Oh… Well how about we take a little bit of a walk." A walk sounds relaxing right now. I nod my head, and we walk outside.

Shortly after that, however, I hear a voice say, "Hey there, Two Tail!" I turn around, and there's Rascal, with Robb and Jack standing right next to him. "I hope you don't mind us dropping in and doing what we do best." he punches the palm of his right hand with his left fist, then runs up to me and punches me straight in the stomach. I keel over, clenching my stomach. He winds up for another when Amy yells, "Hey, blockhead! Pick on somebody your own size!" She once again pulls a hammer out of nowhere and swings it at Rascal, hitting him in the stomach as well. "Can't you see that Tails is already having a bad enough day? Now, unless you want me to hit you once again, I suggest you SCRAM!"

Unlike last time he tried to beat me up, he just nods and runs away with Robb and Jack following him. "That should take care of them," says Amy as she puts the hammer back in her invisible storage pouch. Even watching Rascal submit to Amy doesn't make me feel any better…

We spend a few more minutes walking, then head back to the hotel, where I say my good-byes to Amy. Sonic and I head back home, and after we arrive, he helps me pack all my stuff, which just happens to only take up a small backpack. We walk out into the garage, and there sits my recently finished Tornado-2. The biplane looks like the original Tornado, but its speed is highly upgraded, and it can now go faster than the speed of sound. It doesn't have any paint on it yet, but when I get a chance, I'm going to paint it blue.

As I approach it, however, I notice something that I didn't notice before. There is an engraving on the side of the plane. I get closer so I can read it.

* * *

><p>Dear Miles,<p>

I want to say something to you. I already know that I am not going to be here too long anymore, so I want you to know that I'll always be watching over you. Stay strong, Miles, and keep your head held high. Keep flying as high as you can, no matter what happens, and everything will turn out alright.

Love,  
>Paul<p>

* * *

><p>Under the main message is another engraving.<p>

* * *

><p>If there is ever any doubt in your heart, remember this:<em><br>I wanna fly high so I can reach the highest of all the heavens.  
>Somebody will be waiting for me, so I have gotta fly higher.<br>Gotta keep going. Everything is a brand new challenge for me.  
>I will believe in myself. This is the only start for me.<em>

* * *

><p>Uncle Paul left this message… just for me? I drop the backpack I'm carrying and immediately start crying… out of joy. Thank you, Uncle Paul. No matter what adversities I encounter, I just need to keep my head up. I need to just believe that I'll see Sonic once again after I leave, and I will. Sonic walks out and sees the tears in my eyes. "Tails, what's wrong?" he asks. I sniffle and wipe the tears from my face as I reply, "It's nothing that's wrong, Sonic. In fact, it's just the opposite. Look at this." I point toward the engraving, and Sonic starts reading it. While he's reading, a smile spreads across his lips. "I'm glad that Uncle Paul left something for you, Tails."<p>

Sonic pauses for a second. "Wait, Uncle Paul did have a will, right?" Yes, he did, but how does that matter right now? I nod. "Well, he would usually hide stuff under his pillow. Maybe… Just maybe, his will is there. Maybe it has something on who should take care of you." That is… brilliant! He and I rush up to Uncle Paul's room and lift up the pillow on his bed, and there lies a piece of paper with the title "Will" on it in Uncle Paul's handwriting.

* * *

><p>Will<p>

I only have two things to request. I firstly request that all of my possessions are to be given to my two nephews, Miles "Tails" Prower and Sonic the Hedgehog. Second, I request that Miles is to be taken care of by Sonic the Hedgehog. He is the only one who knows Miles as well as I do, and therefore is the only one who can really look after him. You don't know how painful it would be for him if he had to go to another home. Please respect my wishes.

Paul Fuchs

* * *

><p>This… changes everything! "Do you know what this means, Tails?" exclaims Sonic. "We need to take this over to the courthouse right away!" I'm gonna get to stay with Sonic? Yes! "Let's go, Sonic!" I exclaim. He and I go as fast as we can over to the courthouse and burst into the room. "Mr. Judge, sir!" I yell. The judge is still sitting in his seat as he mumbles, "Not you two again…" I heard that… Sonic holds out the will and says, "Sir, take a look at this, please." The judge takes the paper and scans it. His eyes widen as he does so. "Well," he starts. "I guess that… Sonic will take care of you…"<p>

Then, he murmurs, "Dr. Robotnik won't like this at all. I was supposed to destroy Sonic's confidence, but I'm a judge. I can't just disobey what the law says no matter what Robotnik promises me." He resumes in normal volume, "Sonic, I must warn you! Dr. Robotnik is planning to launch his creation, the Death Egg! He tried to get me to break you by taking Tails from you, but I can't take it anymore! He said he would spare me if I did what he asked! You have to understand!" Sonic lowers his eyebrows and exclaims, "So Eggman was behind this!" The judge nods and responds, "Yes. His first target is the Emerald Hill here on Westside Island."

Sonic nods and says, "Well, I've gotta speed! Eggman's going down." Sonic starts revving his legs up when I grab his arm and exclaim, "I wanna come with you, Sonic." I know that other people see me as weak and puny. This is my chance to prove that I'm strong. Sonic sighs and replies, "I… don't know, Tails. I don't want you to get hurt or anything." I can help, though. "C'mon, Sonic," I beg. "I could help break Eggman's robots, and I could fly the Tornado for you. This is my chance to prove that I'm more than capable of helping you out. Please, Sonic?"

Sonic ponders for a few seconds. "All right, Tails," he says. "You can come with, but only if you promise to be extra careful." I nod several times as I respond, "I promise, Sonic! I promise!" I hope I'm making Uncle Paul proud of me.


	6. Part Six

Part Six

_ We trashed the Death Egg three times in only three weeks… Well, Sonic, along with our new friend, Knuckles, a red echidna, did it one more time after the first two times, and then Sonic destroyed it again after that, so that makes a total of five times. Eggman really just needs to give up._

_ Sonic and I moved off Westside Island and found a nice little workshop in the Mystic Ruins near Angel Island, where Knuckles lives, and Station Square. Westside Island just reminded us too much of Uncle Paul. I've been working on a new propulsion system for the Tornado-2 that makes use of one of the Chaos Emeralds that Sonic used against Eggman. The plane still isn't painted, though…_

_ I've been trying not to think too much about how Uncle Paul passed away, but I've still had my moments where I begin to break down. Whenever I do, I just look at the message that he left me, and then I remember that I'm supposed to be strong. I will believe in myself…_

_ Knuckles and Sonic stopped another one of Eggman's plans within a day, not even enough time for Eggman to finish the Death Egg. Right now, I'm headed to Station Square, where Sonic said he and Knuckles would meet me._

* * *

><p>As I get off the train that runs between the Mystic Ruins and Station Square at around eight o'clock PM, I see Knuckles walk into the train station. "Knuckles!" I exclaim as I jog toward him. "So, how did everything go?" He rolls his blue eyes and replies, "With Eggman, everything went fine, but Sonic has just about gotten on my last nerve!" I'm not going to ask why. This is normal for him and Sonic. "So where is Sonic?" I ask. Knuckles pounds his spiked fist into his palm to release his anger, then calmly answers, "He's relaxing at the pool next to here. By the pool, not in it… You know how he is with water. "<p>

Knuckles starts to walk off, but then out of nowhere, Rascal steps in front of me. "Well, well, Two Tail. Looks like you don't have those blue and pink hedgehogs to protect you this time as I beat you down!" Knuckles turns around says, "Wait, why would you beat Tails up? He's the nicest kid in the world." Rascal simply shrugs and responds, "Maybe that's the point. He's too much of a wuss to do anything about it!" He jabs me straight in my right cheek with enough force to knock me over. "You're just gonna stand there and take that, Tails?" asks Knuckles.

When I don't reply and start rubbing my cheek, Knuckles immediately lunges toward Rascal, fist first, punching him straight in the face. He falls backward, holding his nose as he yells, "OW!" After rubbing his nose for a few seconds, he gets up and tries to barrage Knuckles with punches. "You have a lot to learn about fighting!" exclaims Knuckles. Rascal then does a large dive toward Knuckles, but then Knuckles dodges it and punches him in the back of the head. Rascal starts rubbing the back of his head. "Why so rough with me?" asks Rascal "I wasn't doing anything to you."

Knuckles crosses his arms and says, "I'm just defending my friend. Unless you want me to hurt you some more, I'd suggest not trying to hurt Tails again. Got it?" Knuckles punches his palm as Rascal gulps loudly and nods. As Rascal runs off, Knuckles gives me his hand and asks, "Are you okay, Tails?" while helping me up. I continue massaging my cheek as I reply, "Yeah. That happened to me all the time two years ago. It's nothing. That wasn't near as bad as what happened on the day I first met Sonic. Anyway, I'm gonna go see Sonic. See ya later, Knuckles." Knuckles simply nods and gets on the train headed for the Mystic Ruins.

I walk outside and turn right, head into the building, and go through the leftmost exit, which leads to the pool. When I get there, I see Sonic laying on a beach chair with his eyes closed. I exclaim his name and he opens his eyes. "Oh, Tails," he says. "Hey there! How's everything going?" I give him a thumbs-up and wink as I reply, "Great, Sonic. I've been working on the Tornado-2 a lot. Sorry I couldn't come with you this time. I was just too tired." Sonic smiles and responds, "That's okay, Tails."

"You ready to go home?" I ask him. He shakes his head. "Not quite, Tails. I've arranged a date with Amy tonight, and you know how she gets if you don't do what you promise." Oh, I know full well how Amy gets when that happens. She's not nice happy-go-lucky Amy anymore. She gets angrier than anything else in the world, and it's the only thing that can truly make Sonic scared. "What do you see in her?" I inquire. Sonic slightly shrugs. "At first," he starts. "nothing, but the more time I spend with her, the more I realize that she's not as bad as I first thought. I just don't know how exactly to tell her about my change in heart."

I sigh and roll my eyes, and in response, Sonic says, "Hey, you'll find somebody you like when you get older, too, but with how shy you are, I wonder how it would turn out. Or maybe even sooner than when you get older. I guarantee that there'll be someone that you have a crush on sooner or later, but you won't know how to tell her how you feel. I feel the same way with Amy sometimes. That's kinda why I always try to push her away. I may act fine in public, but you know how I really am, and—" Then, none other than Amy walks through the door. "Sonic! Are you ready for our date?"

Sonic nods, jumps off the beach chair, and walks over to Amy. "See ya later, buddy. Unless something comes up, I'll be home tomorrow morning, all right? I'll find a hotel or something to stay at tonight." I nod, and they start to walk off when I say, "Actually, don't worry about coming home tomorrow. I'll come and pick you up. I made some modifications to the Tornado-2 that I think you'll like." He gives me a thumbs-up and walks away with Amy.

I walk back to the train station and get on the train headed for the Mystic Ruins. When I get there five minutes later, it starts to rain, so I fly as fast as I can over to my workshop, which is on one of the shorter plateaus in the Ruins. I hate rain! I get there within thirty seconds, and I'm already pretty wet when I do. I shake my fur dry and wring my tails out, and then I immediately grab a towel and completely dry myself off.

Ugh… why did it get so bad all of the sudden… I look out the window, but my attention isn't drawn to the rain this time. Angel Island is falling! Something must have happened to the Master Emerald! I want to go out there and help Knuckles, but ever since Uncle Paul died, I haven't wanted to go in too many places that have water, even rain, because I fear that I might get pneumonia. I used to be a great swimmer, but now I won't go into bodies of water, just like Sonic. I know it's a pretty irrational fear, but so is my fear of lightning.

Since there's no point in staying up any longer, I might as well just go to bed now. I walk into my room and crawl under my blanket. "Good night, Uncle Paul," I say to the air, as I do every night. It's a habit that I probably won't break for a while…

* * *

><p>I wake up in the morning feeling refreshed and ready to show Sonic the new Tornado-2. I put the Chaos Emerald into the special compartment that I built so the Tornado-2 could use its energy. I open the garage door of the workshop, which leads out to a long peninsula that I've converted into a runway. "Tornado-2, start!" I exclaim as I turn the key and start the biplane's two engines. I start to accelerate down the runway, achieve liftoff near the end of it, and start to fly toward Station Square.<p>

"Okay, everything's looking good so far!" I say to myself as I enter the airspace over Station Square, but then, the propeller starts to smoke. "Uh-oh! I think I just jinxed it!" I start to lose control of the Tornado-2 as I continue to yell, "Mayday! Mayday!" I then start to plunge down toward the street next to the train station. "Going down!" I pull up as hard as I can, and I just barely save myself from crashing there. However, I go back up and start heading past the pool where Sonic was supposed to be waiting for me and eventually start to head down toward a sandy peninsula in the Emerald Coast.

Upon impact, I'm thrown out of the Tornado-2 and I land face-first in the sand. I spit out the sand that got into my mouth and look at the Tornado-2. It doesn't look too damaged. In fact, the damage looks quite minimal. I could probably get it back up and running in no time. Even my special engraving wasn't damaged. Then, I hear footsteps in the sand, and within a few seconds, Sonic appears in front of me. He gives me his hand and helps me up. "You okay, li'l bro?" he asks. I nod and reply, "Both the Tornado-2 and I are fine. I wanted to show you a new propulsion system that I had been working on." I walk over and get the Chaos Emerald out of the compartment. "It was using this. It's still got a few bugs to work out, but the plane came out relatively unscathed."

Sonic's eyes widen as he exclaims, "An Emerald! Where'd you find it?" I smile and answer, "I actually found it near the workshop one day. It just appeared out of nowhere." Sonic nods and starts trying to push the plane up onto its wheels. "C'mon, Tails," he says as he grunts. "I could use a little help here." I nod, put the Emerald in one of my tails, and help him. Within about forty-five seconds, we have it up on its wheels. Sonic gets behind it and starts revving up his feet. "I'm gonna push this back to the workshop!" he exclaims. "You wanna ride in there while I do?" I hop into the pilot's seat and say, "Heck yeah, I do! Full speed ahead, Sonic!" He nods and starts pushing the plane at supersonic speeds. "YA-HOO!" I yell.

Within only two minutes, using an alternate route to get to the Mystic Ruins, we arrive at the workshop, where I put the Tornado-2 back in the garage. "Well, that was some good exercise," says Sonic afterward, but then, we hear something outside. We walk out onto the large plateau in front of the workshop, and none other than Eggman is there, flying in his weird hovercraft… thing. "Well, well, well…" he says rather calmly. "If it isn't Sonic and Tails."

"Eggman!" I exclaim. "What're you up to now?" His eyebrows immediately come down as he shouts, "Silence! I am Dr. Robotnik, the most intelligent evil genius on Mobius!" Sonic rolls his eyes and responds, "Yeah, right, Eggman." Eggman quietly growls and yells, "Be quiet, you twat! Now, fox boy, if you would be so kind as to give me the Chaos Emerald hidden in your tails…" I try to menacingly glare at him as I reply, "What are you gonna do to try and get it, huh?" Eggman shrugs and says, "I'm going to take it from you! The hard way!" His hovercraft suddenly spawns missile launchers from its sides. "All right, Eggman, you're going down!" exclaims Sonic. I want to be the one to take Eggman down this time. I block Sonic and say, "Leave this to me! I've got this, Sonic!"

"So," starts Eggman. "you want to play, fox boy? Let's get started, then!" He starts to launch missiles at me, which I dodge easily with the running lessons that Sonic's been giving me. Then, drills appear at the front of the hovercraft and he tries to ram me into the ground with them. I quickly leap back and jump using the spin attack that Sonic had taught me. I hit Eggman's machine several times, and the missile launchers, along with the drills, break in no time.

I walk toward Sonic, and he asks, "Is the Emerald okay?" I nod and pull it out of my tails, but then, a claw reaches into my hands and snags the Emerald. I turn around, and Eggman is triumphantly holding it out. "Chaos could use a little snack!" he exclaims. Chaos? Who in the world is Chaos? I think my question is about to be answered. A puddle of water appears out of nowhere, and out of it rises a watery humanoid figure with yellow pupil-less eyes. "That's the monster I saw last night after my date with Amy!" says Sonic. Eggman laughs and throws the Emerald toward the figure he called Chaos.

Chaos instantly transforms, gaining a bone in its transparent right arm. "Yes!" yells Eggman. "It's just as the manuscripts predicted. Hear this, Sonic. Every time I feed him a Chaos Emerald, he grows stronger. He just needs the other six now, and then he'll be invincible! Good-bye, Sonic. Good-bye, fox boy." Chaos sinks into the ground, and Eggman flies off, laughing. "Sonic!" I exclaim. "We've gotta stop Eggman from getting more Emeralds! Come on, let's go!" I'll have to worry about the Tornado-2 later. Right now, we've gotta stop Eggman!


	7. Part Seven

Part Seven

_ Sonic and I managed to find three more Emeralds, all of which were of course taken by Eggman. Knuckles had once again been tricked into helping Eggman. He had been told that Sonic broke the Master Emerald and stole its pieces, which, of course, was false. "Nice job, Knucklehead…" I remember Sonic said that to Knuckles after he found out he had been tricked._

_ I had been flying Sonic up to Eggman's new ship, the Egg Carrier, in the Tornado-1 to try and rescue Amy, since she had been abducted by Eggman, when we got blasted by a large beam that I hadn't seen at first. It pretty much scrapped the Tornado and sent me and Sonic plummeting down in separate directions. I don't know where he ended up, but I ended up unconscious somewhere near the workshop._

_ Before I had woken up, I was having one of the most relaxing dreams I'd had in a while. I was dreaming about the race that Sonic and I had more than a year ago. It brings back so many good memories. Back when he and I didn't have to worry about a thing…_

_ I've been looking for a Chaos Emerald to see if I could use it to power the Tornado-2, and Big the Cat's frog, Froggy, had swallowed one. I gave chase to it, and eventually caught it. I got sent back to the past because of a weird red orb after I did, though. I met an echidna named Tikal there. After I came back to my senses, Big startled me, and I let go of Froggy… But I did get the Emerald!_

_ Right now, I'm going to my workshop. I have to fix up the Tornado-2 and go get Sonic._

* * *

><p>"I sure hope he's okay!" I exclaim to myself as I rush up to my workshop. I get there within a minute, and the Tornado-2 is right where I left it. "Okay, time to start fixing!" I go into a frenzy. This reminds me of when I fixed the Tornado with Uncle Paul, except this isn't near as big of a fix. It wasn't trashed by Eggman. Sooner than later, the Tornado-2 is polished and ready to go… almost. I have to paint it really quick. I know Sonic needs me right now, but if I don't do it now, I don't know if I'll be able to.<p>

I grab some blue paint and start to paint the Tornado-2. I end up not painting it a solid blue, but decorating it with several decals, such as my two tails (I had to add something in that made it mine), and some text that reads "Sonic". And that's when I notice that, if I take this plane out to fight Eggman with, it may get beaten to a pulp, and I would lose my special engraving forever. I need to write it down somewhere so I'll never forget it. I grab a piece of paper and neatly write the message down. When I'm finished, I get a piece of tape and hang it to the wall of the garage.

I open the garage door and get into the Tornado-2. I start it up, and I hear the two engines start and continually rise in pitch until they reach a very high whirring. I face the paper that I had written the message down on and wave my hand at it. "Good-bye, Uncle Paul! See ya when I get back!" I get the biplane out of the garage and accelerate down the runway before achieving liftoff near the end of it. "Here I come, Sonic!" I exclaim.

I fly around the Mystic Ruins and find no sign of Sonic, but then I catch sight of the Egg Carrier near Red Mountain. That has to be where Sonic is! I fly over there, and go to the side nearest the Carrier. As I patrol that side, I see Sonic. "Sonic!" I yell. "I've got the Tornado-2 running! Come on! Let's try to land on the Egg Carrier again!" Sonic nods, and as I fly toward him, he jumps onto his favorite spot, right in the back.

I fly us up toward the Egg Carrier, but then, it starts happening. A thunderstorm starts around us, and I start to freak out. I can't stand rain! I can't bear the sound of thunder! All I'm doing as we approach is making the Tornado-2 shake. "Come on, Tails. Be strong!" exclaims Sonic. "Don't let a little rain and lightning scare you. I hate to get wet as much as you do, but you have to overcome your fears. You have to believe that you aren't gonna get pneumonia. You have to believe that you aren't gonna get zapped by lightning. You have to believe in yourself." But it's so hard! I want to believe that… I really do…

"Uncle Paul would want you to be brave right now, wouldn't he?" asks Sonic. "What would he say to you right now?" He'd try to encourage me to be bold and face my fears. I need to! I need to do this. I've committed myself to stopping Eggman and his evil plots. I won't let him or his robots kill any more innocent people like my father. "All right, Sonic!" I exclaim. "Let's go!" I fly the Tornado-2 straight toward the Egg Carrier at top speed.

A few minutes and a lot of fighter plane robots later, I try to close in on the Carrier, but a fighter plane faster than any of the ones Eggman sent at us before flies toward us. "All right, time to transform the Tornado! Sonic, hop in the back seat really quick." Sonic nods and gets in the back seat of the plane as I press the button to convert the plane. I've been waiting to use this. The biplane's wings form an "X" shape as the propeller retracts into the body. Two rocket boosters pop out at the bottom of the plane, and we start to go supersonic. "Okay, Sonic, you can hop back up on the plane now!" He hops back up to his spot, and then I quickly veer to make a one hundred eighty degree turn and fire the Volkan Cannon at the fighter plane, and it hits straight on.

"Yes!" I yell. I turn back toward the Carrier and try to land on it when I realize something. "Um… Sonic…" I say worriedly. "What is it?" he asks. I shout as loud as I can, "There's no landing gear in this mode, and we're too late to change back! Get ready to jump, Sonic!" Sonic nods, and as I angle the plane toward the Carrier, I stand up in my seat. As soon as we're about to land, we both jump off onto the runway as the Tornado-2 skids across it. The biplane stops near the edge of the runway, only a few inches from falling off.

Then I notice that the thunderstorm has stopped. I wring out my tails and shake my fur. I have to dry myself off as well as I can! "Are you all right?" asks Sonic. I shiver and reply, "Yeah, Sonic, I'm fine. I just need to dry off. That's all." Why does water have to scare me so much? "Okay, let's head for the bridge! That's probably where Amy is right now!" exclaims Sonic. I nod, and we start running over to where the bridge is located, but about halfway there, Eggman's voice starts over the intercom, "Welcome to Dr. Ivo Robotnik's spectacular ship, the Egg Carrier. Congratulations on making it this far, Sonic, but I won't make it any easier for you past this point. Do you want to see what this ship is capable of?"

The ship starts to change shape as soon as he gets off the intercom, and its wings combine together near the top of the ship, nearly changing the whole ship's layout with it. "How are we going to get to the bridge now?" asks Sonic. He's right. I can't fly that high, especially not on something that's moving. I'd just get blown off. "The only way to get here now is through the Sky Deck!" exclaims Eggman. "I'd like to see you make it through there without a couple scratches!" Eggman laughs maniacally and then shuts off the intercom. "Well, Tails, are you up for some fun?" asks Sonic. I give him a thumbs-up and reply, "Sure am, Sonic! Let's go!"

He and I dash for the Sky Deck. When we get to the entrance, Sonic says, "Okay, Tails, let's race! Whoever gets to the bridge first wins!"

* * *

><p>After only ten minutes, Sonic and I made it through the Sky Deck, and I came in first place! As I step through the door to the bridge, though, I realize that I shouldn't be celebrating my victory right now. Amy is in front of Eggman, holding a bird flicky to protect it from Eggman. "Amy," starts Eggman. "if you would be so kind as to hand over that little bird, it would be greatly appreciated." Amy shakes her head and asks, "No way, what in the world would you want with this poor little birdie?" Eggman simply sighs and extends a claw from his hovercraft, which nabs the bird right out of Amy's hands.<p>

All Eggman does, however, is grab the jewel off of the bird's locket, at which point I realize it's… "A Chaos Emerald?" exclaims Sonic from behind me. Eggman lets out an evil laugh and yells, "Gamma, come take care of these pests! I need to feed Chaos!" His hovercraft flies away, but before I can catch it, a red E-series robot with the number 102 on it steps in front of me. "Get out of my way!" I shout.

The robot makes no attempts to do so and fires directly at me. Luckily, I saw it coming, and I jump out of the way. I spin jump on its head once and back up, after which the robot once again fires, but this time, he launches a small homing missile. I quickly dodge when it's about two inches away from me, and jump on the robot's head two more times, the second of which knocks him back a few yards. When I'm about to go in and finish him, Amy steps in my way. As to not collide with her, I quickly push my heels down onto the floor.

"Get out of my way, Amy," I say once I've stopped. "He's dangerous! Why are you defending him?" Amy shakes her head and responds, "Gamma's not dangerous, Tails. He's my friend. He helped me escape from Eggman's prison." I sigh. An Eggman robot helped Amy? That seems very out of character, and I'm sure that, even if he did help her, it was all just some part of one of Eggman's schemes. Yet, Amy only trusts people that she knows are her allies… "All right, Amy," I agree. "You have your reasons, I guess."

Then, I feel very light all of the sudden. What's going on? Wait a second… "The ship is losing altitude!" I exclaim. "Sonic! Amy! We need to get off of here! Quick!" Sonic walks up to me and says, "You and Amy go, Tails. Carry Amy and fly down to Station Square. I've gotta stay here and stop Eggman. Don't worry about me. I'll make it through this, I swear it. I wouldn't let you lose another family member, Tails!" I nod and tell Amy to grab onto my hands, which she does, and I start flying us off the Carrier. Oh, man, I hope Sonic makes it!

* * *

><p>Within about twenty minutes, Amy and I make it to Station Square. I gently set Amy down on the ground, then plop down onto it once I land. My tails hurt like nothing else! "Tails, are you alright?" asks Amy. Through my panting, I reply, "Sure am, Amy. I'm just a bit tired." Amy smiles, probably because she's glad to know I'm okay. "Well, I've gotta help this little birdie find its parents," she says. "I'll see you later, Tails!" She runs off in the direction of Emerald Coast, leaving me to relax for a few minutes.<p>

After about ten minutes of laying there and disregarding the looks that I'm getting thrown, I see Eggman's hovercraft crash down across the street from where I am. "Look. It's a giant talking egg…" I murmur. With my excellent hearing, I hear Eggman mumble, "Oh, woe is me! Sonic has defeated Chaos and destroyed my Final Egg! Oh, well, I'll just destroy Station Square myself!" Then, a missile comes flying toward Station Square from the direction that the Egg Carrier was in. No! This isn't how I want to die! My instincts take over, and I duck while putting my tails over my head. I hear the missile crash into the ground, but nothing happens after that. I look around. Everything is still there.

"No! It was a dud!" yells Eggman. He immediately starts his hovercraft and heads in the direction of Highway 255, better known by its nickname, Speed Highway. "I've got to get there as fast as I can!" he exclaims. Oh, no! If Eggman gets to that missile… then Station Square is done for! I've got to stop him…! But I'm just a wimp… I can't do anything without Sonic or Knuckles' help…

I've changed a lot since I started hanging out with Sonic, but I can't depend on him forever! I know I can do this by myself! "Look out, Eggman, 'cause here I come!"

I start to chase after Eggman as the sun starts to set. By the time it finishes setting, we make it to Speed Highway. This highway is aptly nicknamed, since there is no speed limit. This inner-city highway is usually full of cars right about now, but with this missile crisis, the roads are all but deserted. He starts racing down one of the hills and yells back to me, "You think you can keep up with me?" Did he just taunt me? Not on my watch! I speed up my tails and fly over his hovercraft. "What? He's caught up!" As I speed on ahead, he shouts, "Tails, wait for me!" Why on Mobius would I wait for him? He wouldn't wait for me even if his life depended on it.

Within only five minutes, I arrive at my destination. The missile struck a bridge that's part of Highway 37. I fly up to it and open it up, revealing wires galore. Knowing Eggman, the wiring is probably very touchy, and the slightest slip-up could cause it to blow. All but one wire are probably set to make the missile explode. I examine the wires. There are several multicolored wires, but one stands out in particular, as it's the only one of its color, the orange one. This might be the one. I don't know anything about defusing a missile, so this is my best bet. I pull out my wire cutters, one of the many tools I carry around with me, and cut the orange wire.

I close my eyes and plug my ears, waiting for my bad luck to take its place, but nothing happens. I open them, and the missile is still there, not blown up or anything. I'm alive? I actually did it? Yay! I can hear people cheering from behind me, chanting my nickname. I turn around and look at all of their happy faces, but happiness soon turns to fear as Eggman exits Speed Highway. "Dr. Robotnik! Let's get out of here!" yells one of the citizens as they all disperse. I fly off the bridge and get in front of Eggman.

"What're you gonna do now, Eggbelly? I defused your missile, and now you have nothing left to attack Station Square with. Face it, Eggman, you lost!" Eggman quietly chuckles. "What's so funny?" I try to menacingly ask. Eggman sighs and replies, "You really are clueless, fox boy. I always have a plan B. Prepare to meet your doom, Tails, because this time, Sonic isn't here to save you."

His hovercraft suddenly sprouts legs and turns into a large walker as wide as the street. "Meet the Egg Walker, fox boy!" That thing is HUGE! I've never had to do something like this without Sonic. I'm scared, Sonic! _You can do it, Tails!_ Sonic? His voice is in my head. I don't know… Can I do it? I'm just a puny little fox. _Miles._ Uncle Paul? _Believe in yourself, Miles._ Believe in myself… I begin to recite the poem in my head. _I wanna fly high so I can reach the highest of all the heavens. / Somebody will be waiting for me, so I have gotta fly higher. / Gotta keep going. Everything is a brand new challenge for me. / I will believe in myself. This is the only start for me._

I do have to keep going. Sonic wouldn't want me to just give up, and neither would Uncle Paul. Eggman can't kill anyone else! "I'm not scared!" I exclaim. "I'm not scared! I'M NOT SCARED, EGGMAN! You hear me? I won't give up! I won't allow you to kill any more innocent people like my father!" Eggman chuckles and responds, "All right, then, Tails. Give it your best shot!" Maybe I'm a bit in over my head, but I don't care! I'm going to try anyway! Sonic, Uncle Paul, I'll make you proud!

The Egg Walker starts stomping through the street, crushing all of the cars in its wake. When it approaches me, it seems like it's going to squash me like a bug, but instead, it stomps near me and releases an electric shockwave that hits me, and I feel a painful shock course through my body. I growl in pain until the electricity finish its course. "Gotta watch out for that…" I look at its feet as it jumps away from me and starts crawling toward me again. Its feet are its weak point! If I can attack its feet, then I'll be home free!

When it stomps on the ground near me again, I jump to avoid the shockwave, then land and kick the dome on there as hard as I can. The legs on the Walker fail, and I spin jump on the cockpit. After three more times, I finally end up disabling Eggman's controls as the machine falls apart, leaving only his hovercraft. "Dammit! I was supposed to beat you! You're just a weak little fox cub!" he shouts as he flies out of Station Square. "Yeah, that's right!" I yell. "Run, Eggman! Run and DON'T EVER COME BACK!"

People gather out on the street once again, chanting my name. This praise… It feels great! No wonder Sonic likes being a hero! "Mommy! Mommy! Can I go? Please, Mommy?" A high- and squeaky-voiced rabbit keeps asking her mom if she can come and meet me. I've never had anyone _want_ to meet me. A smooth voice replies, "Okay, dear. You can go and talk to him." The rabbit shrieks in joy as she runs up to me. Her vermillion dress flows as she continues toward me.

"Hello, Mr. Prower! My name's Cream the Rabbit, and my Chao is named Cheese!" she exclaims when she reaches me. Mr. Prower? "You don't have to call me Mr. Prower, Cream," I say. "Just call me Tails." She nods and says excitedly, "That was amazing, Mr. Tails!" Mr. Tails? Oh, well… I guess that won't hurt. "It's cool how you were able to stand up to Dr. Robotnik like that!" I chuckle and scratch the back of my head as I look more closely at her. She's… kinda cute… Her soft brown eyes are looking at me in admiration as a smile continues to be present on her small mouth. She has cream-colored fur, and her ears are extremely long, but they add to her cuteness. "I-it was nothing…" I stutter. She slightly tilts her head to the side as she asks, "Mr. Tails, if I may ask, why are you blushing?" I'm blushing? It's noticeable? I quickly try to stop as I stammer, "It's n-n-n-nothing, Cream."

Then, I see a tall and polite-looking rabbit excuse herself through the crowd. Her fur is the same color as Cream's, making me assume that she's related to her. She's probably her mother. "Cream, dear, we must be heading back home." She nods to her mother, and then politely bows to me. "Thank you for letting me meet you, Mr. Tails!" I politely bow back, smile, and reply, "You're welcome, Cream. It was no problem." I direct my words toward her mother. "Thank _you_ for letting me meet your daughter ma'am." Her mother smiles and responds, "You're welcome, Mr. Prower, but we really must be going." The two of them walk away, and Cream waves back to me as she calls out, "Good-bye, Mr. Tails." I wave back, and then the crowd comes up to me and picks me up, still chanting my name.


	8. Part Eight

Part Eight

_ It's been an interesting couple of days. Chaos went completely out of control and almost destroyed Station Square! Sonic even had to go Super to defeat it. Luckily, Sonic was able to defeat Chaos, and Tikal, who had been sealed in the Master Emerald with Chaos, was able to go once again seal it and herself back in there, but this time in peace._

_ I'm trying to build a new plane that I'm calling the Tornado-3. It's going to have a walker mode in it so that I'll be able to use everything that I was able to use in the air on the ground. It's gonna be awesome, and I'm gonna call it the Cyclone!_

_ Honestly, I have no idea what to do right now. Sonic and I are just watching TV, just waiting for things to get exciting again…_

* * *

><p>I loudly yawn out of boredom. "You're right, Tails," says Sonic. "It <em>is<em> boring just to sit here… Hey, I'm gonna go for a run. Wanna come with?" I shake my head. I really don't feel like going for a run right now. "I'm gonna work on the Tornado-3, Sonic. It's gonna knock Eggman's socks off next time we beat him with it." Sonic nods and stands up, then gives me his signature wink and thumbs-up. "Okay, I'll be back soon, Tails!" He walks over to the door, opens it, and then runs off.

I walk over to the garage and see the partially built monoplane sitting there with the trashed but recovered Tornado and Tornado-2. I've been using some of the parts that aren't broken to make the Tornado-3. I start to work on the plane, but then I feel a burning sensation in my back. OH, MY GOSH! THAT HURTS LIKE HECK! The pain slowly fades, as does my vision…

* * *

><p>When I wake up, I'm on a bed in a metal room. I try to get up, but my back… Oh, my back… It burns! Who in the world would just break into a kid's house and stab him in the back? It's not bleeding all over, though. In fact, it's bandaged up, which makes me think that whoever abducted me didn't want me to die, at least not right away. "You're awake," says a very familiar voice. I growl as I realize who it is. "Seriously, Rascal?" I shout. "You've gone way too far this time!" He's done some despicable things to me, but stabbing me in the back and abducting me is extreme.<p>

"Oh, _I've_ gone way too far this time? You're so naïve, Two Tail!" he exclaims. "You don't even realize that I'm not doing this for personal satisfaction! You and that damn friend of yours went and messed up my life so much that it's not even funny!" I hear him slam his fist on the control panel of whatever he's using. "Jack and Robb were caught in the middle of that disaster in Station Square! They drowned! And nobody gave a damn! If Robotnik didn't hate you and that hedgehog so much, then that wouldn't have happened! And you know what's even worse? Sonic didn't even try to save them, even as he passed right by them! He didn't even notice them! He was too preoccupied with protecting those close to him, LIKE YOU! IT'S _ALL_ YOUR DAMN FAULT, TWO TAIL!"

Jack and Robb drowned? I… never knew… "How is this Sonic's fault, or even my fault? It all comes back to Eggman freeing Chaos in the first place," I state. He growls and once more slams his fist. "Goddammit, Two Tail!" he shouts. "If you didn't exist, Robb, Jack, and I would've never left Westside Island to follow you! They wouldn't have had to drown! How did you not realize that? I thought you were smart! And you know what else? If you didn't exist, your uncle wouldn't have died!" That's… That's just cruel! "You know it's true, Two Tail!"

It… is true, isn't it…? If I didn't exist, Uncle Paul wouldn't have jumped in after me when I fell in that lake. He'd still be alive… There are so many things that would be better if I just weren't alive… Sonic wouldn't have to protect me all the time… Maybe Rascal, Jack, and Robb wouldn't have been bullies… Maybe my parents wouldn't have died, or at least my mother… I'm crying now… He's completely right in every way possible… "Why in the world would you say something like that?" I ask through my sobbing.

The door on the other side of the room opens, revealing the clearly angry brown fox. "Because," he starts. "_I_ need to break you. _Robotnik_ needs me to break Sonic, and the easiest way to do that is to break and kill you!" He's working for Eggman… Of course… He takes a knife and menacingly runs toward me. I try to get up and run away, but the pain in my back isn't allowing me to. "That's right, be a nice little target, Two Tail!" When he's looming over me and is about to stab me, my adrenaline starts pumping, and I grab his arm, keeping him from stabbing me. I throw his arm up and roll off the bed as the knife strikes the pillow directly where my forehead was. He's gone insane! Even _he_ wouldn't have tried to do that to me unless he was! "Stop resisting, Two Tail!"

I stand up, even though the wound in my back burns every time I move, and try to dodge the swipes of the knife that Rascal makes. Eventually, he slashes me in the chest, leaving a huge red gash there, which is quickly staining the white fur on my torso. I scream from pain and am about to fall on my back when Rascal grabs me by the neck and starts choking me. "I'm… sorry… Rascal… About them…" I get out through the choking sounds I'm making. "But… it's not my… fault… or Sonic's… or even… yours…"

"Yeah, right!" he yells as he squeezes harder on my neck. "Please… stop…" I squeal. I can't take much more of this, or I'll either pass out or die… I'm at my last few seconds when I hear a loud metal snap, and Rascal releases me from his grip. I cough and breathe heavily as blood drips out of my chest. "Looks like the hedgehog fell for my trap!" he exclaims with a grin on this face. Then, he hits me on my head with the blunt end of his knife and says, "Nighty-night…" as I quickly faint…

* * *

><p>"Tails! Buddy! Wake up!" I slowly open my eyes, and they adjust to see a worried Sonic looking straight down at me. He sighs in relief and says, "Thank goodness you're okay…" His demeanor quickly changes from worried to angry. However, he's not angry at me, but for me as he asks, "What in the world did that bastard do to you?" My throat is sore, and my voice comes out almost as a whisper when I reply, "He… stabbed me in the back, slashed me in the stomach, choked me, and hit me upside the head. It… wasn't pleasant."<p>

Sonic hits the metal table next to him and mutters, "Why did this have to happen to him…? Why not to me…?" Then, something occurs to me. "Why haven't you tried to bust us out of here?" He sighs. "I got caught in a trap that stole my shoes and replaced them with these really heavy metal ones that I can barely move. I'm not of any use without my shoes…" I look at his head, and that's when I notice that his temple is bleeding. I look at more of his body, and his right arm has a large gash in it, while his torso is pretty badly bruised. "Sonic!" I exclaim even though my throat hurts. "You're injured!" I sit up from the sudden rush, but my back and chest start to sting. Sonic calls out my name as I clench my chest. "Don't worry about me, buddy," he says. "I wasn't hurt nearly as bad as you were. You're still bleeding, and you need to lay down."

"Where are we, exactly?" I ask after about fifteen seconds of laying down. Sonic shrugs his shoulders and answers, "Somewhere in the Frog Forest, but I don't know exactly where. I just kept running till I got here. People told me that they saw Rascal heading that way with you in tow after I showed them this." He shows me a piece of paper that reads "Missing Child: Miles "Tails" Prower", and then it has what I swear is arguably the worst drawing of me that I've ever seen. "You're a terrible artist…" I state. Sonic raises an eyebrow. "I don't think it looks that bad."

I sigh and say, "I look like I weigh a hundred something pounds. And my ears are _not_ that big. And why does it look like I have three tails?" Sonic rolls his eyes and responds, "I was drawing in pen and I was rushed, okay?" We sit there in silence for a couple seconds before we both chuckle, but then the pain starts again. Once it passes, I just can't get one thing off my mind. "Sonic, do you think that Rascal's gone insane?"

Sonic sighs and answers, "I'm not sure, Tails, but that grin that he had on his face when he discovered me in that trap…" He shivers before continuing, "It was just bloodcurdling, as if he were a homicidal maniac. I don't think I've ever seen him smile like that…" That doesn't put my hopes very high… "Why did he do this?" he asks me. I sigh as well. "Well, he's somehow connected his anger at Eggman and Chaos to his hatred for me and you. Jack and Robb drowned during the incident in Station Square, and he thinks that it all traces back to you and me."

Then, I hear insane laughter coming from the room where Rascal is, and its origin is none other than the crazy fox himself. His voice comes on over the speaker, "Hey, Two Tail, heads up!" A few seconds after he says that, something falls out of the ceiling and hits me on the forehead. I start rubbing the spot that the object fell on and exclaim, "Ow!" I slowly sit up and look at the object, and my eyes widen as I realize what it is… It's a pistol. Sonic picks up the pistol as Rascal says, "So I just came up with the most brilliant plan in the world! It's perfect and cruel! You see, one of you is gonna have to kill the other, or you both die here! Oh, this just makes me tingle with excitement!"

Sonic immediately drops the pistol and stutters, "T-T-T-Tails, I-I think he's insane…" One of us… has to kill the other…? I collapse on the bed and start crying… This is my fault… again… If I didn't exist, Eggman and Rascal wouldn't be able to use me to break Sonic. "Sonic…" I start quietly. "I want you to kill me…" Sonic's mouth drops wide open, and then he starts to unintelligibly stammer. "Tails, what in the world would make you say that?" he finally asks after almost half a minute. I can actually see tears welling up in his eyes. I probably hurt his feelings by saying that.

I sigh. "I've caused everyone around me so much trouble and grief. We both know that Uncle Paul died because of me, and don't try to deny it. My mother died because of me. Jack and Robb died because of me. They and Rascal probably became bullies because of me. And most of all, I've caused you so much trouble, Sonic. You always have to worry about me, and always have to take care of me. I'm your greatest weakness. Eggman can just use me to make you do anything he wants. Without me, he wouldn't be able to do that… I'm plain worthless! Face it! Everything would just be so much better if I were to just die!" Tears are now uncontrollably flowing down my face as well as Sonic's.

I reach for the pistol on the floor, grab it, and shove it into Sonic's shaky hand. "Just do it. Right now. Right here." I point to my forehead. "That way, I won't feel a thing…" Sonic sits there for a second, then throws the pistol down onto the floor. He stands up and starts yelling and crying at the same time, "Tails, are you psychotic? I'm not gonna shoot you! What makes you think that everything would be better without you? I don't want you saying that kind of stuff! An eight-year-old kid shouldn't be telling his brother to just kill him!"

I pick up the pistol once again, but I hesitantly say, "Fine, then I'll do it. You of all people have to realize why I need to die, Sonic." I rest it on my forehead and am about to fire when Sonic smacks it out of my hand. "TAILS, YOU GODDAMN IDIOT!" He smacks me on the face. "Get ahold of yourself, Tails! You don't wanna do this! You may be my greatest weakness, but you're also my greatest strength! You're the one that drives me forward! Not Amy, not Knuckles, you! I keep on going because I want to see your smiling face again, because I want you to see my smiling face again, because without you, I'd be nothing!"

I shake my head. "But only one of us can make it out of here alive. It needs to be you, Sonic. You're the only one who can stop Eggman…" Then, Rascal bursts through the door with an irritated look on his face. "Kill the damn fox already!" he yells with a tinge of insanity in his voice. He runs over us, pushes Sonic to the ground, picks up the gun, points it toward my stomach, and fires. "OOOOOOWWWWW!" I shriek as tears stream down my face. The pain… Oh, the pain! "And ag—DOH!" His words are cut short as I hear a loud bang from directly behind him. He falls to the ground, revealing Amy, who is clearly angry as she catches her breath and puts away her Piko-Piko Hammer. "No one hurts Tails and Sonic! NO ONE!" she screams.

"Sonic!" she exclaims happily as she firmly embraces him. He tries to push her away as he says her name. "It'd be nice…" he starts. "if you'd let me breathe…" She lets him go and responds, "Sorry, Sonic." Then, her attention falls on me. "Oh, my goodness! We need to get him to a hospital right away!" She pulls Sonic's sneakers out of her invisible pouch and quickly disengages the metal ones on his feet. He slips the shoes on and says, "This may hurt a bit, Tails." He picks me up, and I immediately see what he meant. My stomach and chest start to burn and sting like nothing else, and I start weeping even louder. "Sorry, Amy, you're gonna have to catch up later!" He runs out of the base while carrying me.

I'm losing a lot of blood from both my chest and my stomach, and my vision's becoming hazy. Sonic can see my condition and exclaims, "Hang on, buddy! Stay alive!" I hope I stay alive as I pass out…

* * *

><p>I have no idea how long it's been since I fainted, but I'm dreaming now. Specifically, I'm remembering something… I was sneaking into a house a few days after I met Sonic since I was once again extremely hungry. I quickly ran into the kitchen and opened the fridge. "Jackpot!" I whispered as I saw a bag of cheese cubes. I snagged it, closed the fridge, and looked around for more food. I found a small bag of chips, but then the back door opened, and a red fox walked through it. When he saw me, I started to panic. I began running away when he said, "Hey, kid! Wait! I'm not going to hurt you!" That made me stop dead in my tracks. No one I had stolen from had ever said that. He motioned with his hand for me to come over to him while smiling.<p>

I hesitantly walked over to him, and he kneeled down to my eye level. "What's your name kid?" I didn't answer for about ten seconds. "Miles Prower…" His eyes widened when I said that. "Y-you're Rosemary Prower's son?" he asked. "I thought you died with her during childbirth…" He paused for a few seconds before inquiring, "Where do you live, Miles? Who do you live with?" When I didn't answer, he realized that… "You're homeless, aren't you?" I nodded. "Oh, poor kid…" I finally worked up the courage to ask, "How did you know my parents?" He once again smiled and replied, "I'm an old family friend…" He looked like he was contemplating something. "Miles," he started after a couple seconds. "how would you like to have a home?"

* * *

><p>I slowly open my eyes and see the ceiling of my bedroom. I sit up, trying to ignore the pain in my stomach, back, and chest, but I end up letting out a large groan of pain. After a few seconds, I hear footsteps coming up the stairs, and then Sonic runs into my room. "Tails!" he exclaims as he rushes over and hugs me. "You're okay! You were out for so long that I thought you were in a coma or something!" After a few seconds, he says, "Don't <em>ever<em> do anything like that again…" I know what he's referring to. "I'll protect you at any cost, even if it's against your will."

He lets go of me, and I ask, "How long was I unconscious?" He holds up four fingers. "Four days," he says. "You got a bunch of get well cards while you were. Here." He grabs several cards from my nightstand. I first read the ones from Amy and Knuckles, then one from a group called Chaotix, and several more from people that I don't even know. I blush at the final one… It's a hand-drawn card from Cream. It shows me chasing Eggman down, and it says, "I hope you get well soon, Mr. Tails, so you and Mr. Sonic can stop Dr. Robotnik. From, Cream and Cheese."

Sonic notices the red on my cheeks and mocks, "Ooh, someone has a crush!" I stutter as I try to get my words out. "N-no, I don't…" I finally mutter. Sonic merely chuckles and responds, "Told you so." I tilt my head to the side and ask, "Told me what?" He chuckles again and replies, "That you'd be too shy." Well, I can't deny anything with him. If I even try, I'll have already lost. "You need to tell her how you feel, Tails. I mean, if you just met her, of course, you might not wanna do that right away, but be courageous." Easy for you to say… Even though Amy annoyed the heck out of him at first, he eventually came around and told her how he feels. He's brave. I'm not.

"Anyway, do you think you can walk?" he asks. I shrug my shoulders and painfully pivot myself so my feet are dangling off the side of my bed. I slowly slide off, and when I first start to put pressure on my feet, it feels fine, but as I move around more, I start to hurt, and I collapse to the ground. "That was fun…" I grunt. "Help me up, please." He pulls me up, and I once again try to walk, but this time, I'm leaning on Sonic. We walk down the stairs and into the garage. It's very dark, and I can't see anything. Sonic turns on the light, and there it sits. The Tornado-3. It's painted similarly to the Tornado-2, just as I had put on my blueprints. It looks amazing…

I'm awestruck… "I found your blueprints and worked my butt off to finish it for you. It should work just fine now. Can you fly yourself in there?" My tails don't hurt too much. I nod and fly slowly over there, as to not make any other sudden movements. I settle into the cockpit and start it up. The two muffled engines whir to life. I smile in joy. Sonic actually did this for me… Sonic says, "Press the second transform button. I marked it with a 'C' so that it'd be easy for you to find it." The "C" wasn't in my blueprints. I guess Sonic just wanted to make the control panel easier to use. I press the button, and just as I had hoped, it transforms into the Cyclone.

"Well?" he asks. "Did I do a pretty good job, or what?" I give him a thumbs-up. He did a really good job! I transform it back into the Tornado and shut it off for now. I slowly rise out of my seat and fly over to Sonic. "I'm not gonna be doing any flying for a while, though. Not until I heal…" I state, depressed that I won't be able to, I know that I wouldn't be able to focus with this constant pain. "The doctor said to give it a good week to heal up before you regain decent mobility." I nod, and we head back into the house. My stomach lets out a huge grumble when we do.

"I'm hungry," I say. Sonic chuckles and responds, "No kidding. Let's get you something to eat." Sonic fixes me some lunch, and then I go back to my room to try and rest some more. Before I go to bed, however, I have to say something to Sonic. "I'm sorry, Sonic," I start. "I'm sorry about saying that stuff back there. You're right. Things wouldn't be better off if I were to die." This brings a smile to his face. "And I wouldn't have things any other way," he says. "Try to get some rest, Tails. Sweet dreams, li'l bro."


	9. Part Nine

Part Nine

_ So right now, I'm very worried! I was just told that Sonic was arrested by the GUN last night! They said he stole a Chaos Emerald! I seriously have a hard time believing that he'd do something that radical. For "his" crime, they put him on Prison Island, the highest security GUN prison on all of Mobius. Their full name doesn't really coincide with their actions. I think that, if they really were 'Guardian Units of Nations', they'd realize that Sonic wouldn't have done such a thing. Sonic is a guardian of the nations._

_ I know it's only been a week since the incident with Rascal, but I have to go save Sonic, no matter how bad my mobility is. Right now, I'm about to get in the Tornado-3…_

* * *

><p>"I'm coming, Sonic…" I whisper to myself. Then, I hear obnoxious high-pitched laughter coming from outside the open garage. "Who in the world?" A small black robot with a rocket booster on his back, red boots, white gloves, a belt with an "M" on it, yellow eyes, and horns flies into the garage. He lands in front of me and says in a voice equally obnoxious to his laugh, "You're Tails, right? I'm Bokkun, a messenger robot! Dr. Eggman asked me to deliver this to you!" Dr. Eggman? Since when does Eggman actually call himself by his taunt name? Oh, well… Bokkun takes a small TV out of his bag and sets it in front of me. On its screen appears Eggman.<p>

"Hello, Tails!" he exclaims. "I bet you've got a lot on your mind right now, but let me answer the question that's probably fresh. I legally changed my name to Eggman. It has a better ring to it than Robotnik, but that's beside the point." His personality seems different, actually. He seems a lot calmer and happier than usual. Maybe something happened to him. "You see, I already know why Sonic's been arrested. I released the Ultimate Lifeform at Iron Gate the other night!" He WHAT? I read about that in a book one time. It said that it was created by Eggman's late grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik, over fifty years ago. I don't know any of the details about it, though. All it said was that it had unlimited power.

"The Ultimate Lifeform, however, just happened to be a black and red hedgehog with a build and facial features similar to Sonic named Shadow. Well, saying they're similar would be an understatement. Besides their color, they're almost exactly alike! I guess that, when Shadow stole that Chaos Emerald, people mistook him for Sonic with black paint on him. It was the perfect coincidence to get Sonic out of my way! I know Sonic's being held on Prison Island. My plan is to blow the island up with him on it. That way, he can never mess with my plans again! Of course, I know you'll try to save him, but don't expect it to be easy.

"I won't be the only one on the island, either. Both of my comrades, Shadow and Rouge, will be on the island with me, so don't expect to get off the island alive! HO, HO, HO, HO, HO, HO! Good-bye, fox boy!" Then, Bokkun backs up a few steps. "This message will now self-destruct!" he yells. I kick the TV away, and it blows up with a small explosion a few feet in front of me. Bokkun flies of, laughing his head off. So, Eggman thinks he can keep me from saving Sonic, huh? Well, too bad for him, because he can't! Now I'm really angry! I completely ignore the pain coming from all over my torso and hurriedly get in the Tornado-3. "I'm coming, Sonic!" I yell as I go down the runway and take off.

Within twenty minutes, I can see Prison Island. As I close in, I see a small walker on the runway. "Eggman…" I say with obvious malice in my voice. I fly to the runway, and when I'm about to land, I quickly transform the Tornado into the Cyclone. When I do, however, I notice something else. Amy is at Eggman's gunpoint! I walk the Cyclone over there and exclaim, "Eggman, don't you dare hurt Amy!" I aim the Cyclone's Volkan Cannon at him, and he chuckles, "I knew you'd make it here sooner or later, Tails!" If this were any normal situation, I'd probably be out of the Cyclone and actually fighting Eggman by spin jumping on him, but right now…

"Shall we get started?" he asks with a grin on his face. He fires the gun on his walker, and I shout at Amy, "Get out of the way, Amy, before you get hurt!" she nods and backs away as I make an evasive maneuver with the Cyclone and begin firing homing missiles at Eggman. He dodges all but one of them, and I can see his machine smoking after that. "Why you little…" he mumbles. "Get a load of this!" he fires several homing missiles at me as well, but unlike him, I'm able to dodge all of them. I fire my Volkan Cannon at him a couple of times, and his machine starts smoking out of control. He immediately retracts the legs and flies away. "Good-bye, fox boy!" he shouts.

Amy runs up to me and exclaims, "Wow! Nice job, Tails!" I sigh and ask, "Why are you here, Amy? You could have gotten hurt! You need to be more careful." She puts her hands on her hips and worriedly says, "But what about you Tails? You're seriously hurt, and yet you risked your safety to rescue Sonic. I did the same thing." True, but… She hops in the back seat of the Cyclone and yells, "Okay! Let's go save Sonic!" I have no choice. I have to help Amy or she'll beat me to a pulp… I roll my eyes and respond, "All right… Here we go! Hold on! This may get rough!"

I run the Cyclone over to the entrance to the prison and blast the door open, which immediately sounds the alarm. Within only a few seconds, several GUN robots appear around me. I quickly dispose of them with a couple homing missiles, then run into the next area, and I begin explaining the situation to Amy. It's a very repetitive process until we reach the spot where Sonic is being held, but it's beneath us, and the Cyclone can't fit through there. "I'll jump down and get Sonic, Tails!" exclaims Amy. I nod, and she jumps in the hole. From there, I can hear their conversation.

"A-Amy! Boy, am I glad to see you!" Never thought Sonic would say that after he broke up with her a couple days ago. "Of course! Have no fear! Amy Rose is here…! But before I let you out…" I hear Sonic groan before Amy continues, "Will you marry me if I do?" I can just imagine the expression on Sonic's face as he utterly yells, "No! Just let me outta here! I'm gettin' claustrophobic in here!" Amy lets out a long voiced sigh and replies, "Oh, all right…" I hear her whack something metal with her hammer, and I hear a creak, which I guess is the cell door opening.

"Were you doing math in here?" asks Amy. Sonic doing math? Ha! In your dreams! "That's not mine. That was there when I got here… How did you get here anyway?" Amy chuckles. "I hitched a ride with Tails… And I probably shouldn't have said that…" I see Sonic jump up from the hole, with Amy following. "Tails, what are you doing here? You need to rest, not try to rescue me from a federal prison." His tone is that of a lecture, but he's not raising his voice at me. He rarely yells at me. "Don't worry about me, Sonic! Eggman is gonna blow this island up with us on it!" His eyes widen.

"All right! I'll go through here and try to find Eggman," he says as he points to the hole. "There's an exit through there. You head back through and fly around the island while waiting for me. Hand me one of the radios." Radios? What radios? "Tails, I put radios in the glove box. Just in case of an emergency." Oh, okay… I open the glove box and give one of the radios in there to Sonic while keeping one for myself. "As soon as I contact you, I want you to fly to my location and get us out of here. Can you do that for me?" I give him a wink and thumbs-up as I exclaim. "Sure!" However, my torso starts hurting out of the blue, so I quickly cease the gesture.

Sonic and I part ways, and Amy hops back into the Cyclone's back seat. "Let's go, Tails!" she exclaims, but then, the person I least want to see steps in front of the Cyclone. "Hello, Two Tail!" Rascal…! I growl as loudly as I can and start firing the Volkan Cannon at him. I seriously want, pardon my language, that bastard dead! After what he did to us last week, there's nothing I'd rather see right now! He dodges all of the bullets, and I stop firing for the moment. "Well, aren't we a bit trigger-happy today?"

I angrily slam my fist on the control panel, which makes my torso hurt, but I yell, "And that was unexpected why? Do you just expect me to not be irritated with you? Die, you idiot!" I fire a homing missile at him, and he isn't able to dodge it. It hits his arm, and he falls to the ground. When I see blood streaming from the spot where the impact happened, I want more. I want to see him die. But not today. I have better things to do. "Just stay there and bleed to death for all I care!" I shout as I walk the Cyclone away. I know that, at eight years old, I shouldn't be thinking that kind of thing, but I can't help it. Not after what he did.

"Tails, are you all right?" asks Amy calmly. I take a deep breath, and then reply, "I'm fine. I just swear that I hate him more than Sonic hates Eggman…" I pause for a few seconds before asking, "Amy, do you think that he even deserves to live?" Amy sighs and replies, "That's up to you to decide Tails, but we have more important things to worry about right now. We have to make sure that Sonic makes it off this island." Right! My brother's more important than Rascal right now.

I dash us through the prison, and once we're outside on the runway, I transform the Cyclone back into the Tornado. "Okay, Amy! Get ready for takeoff!" As soon as we take off, I see a rocket launch off the base. I don't know what it's for, but I see something blue hanging onto it. That's Sonic! I yell his name into the radio, and he replies back, "I'm fine, Tails! Just hitching a ride on this rocket!" He jumps off the rocket and lands in the forest of the island. "Tails, don't pick me up yet. There's a faker that I need to deal with first!" I faintly hear, "That blue hedgehog again of all places!" before Sonic releases the talk button.

I'm at least going to fly around that spot until he's done. I'm not going to leave him all alone there. When I'm flying overhead, I hear Sonic yell, "What? Thirty seconds! Sheesh, Eggman! You don't know when to quit, do you?" Over the radio, he exclaims, "Tails, I need you to pick me up now, or I'm gonna get blown up!" I depress the button on my own radio and respond, "Okay, I'm coming down now!" When I'm flying near the edge of the island, Sonic runs by and jumps up on the Tornado. We fly away, and within a few seconds, several explosions take place on the island. "Barely made it…" says Sonic. "Thanks, Tails. I guess it's good that you came along after all. Man, but that Shadow guy… He annoys the crap outta me! Who does he think he is, anyway?"

"Just let it go, Sonic," I say. "Right now, we need to find Eggman. My best bet is that he's in Central City, so let's go." Sonic nods, and I set a course for Central City.

When we arrive in about an hour, it's already nighttime, but I'm amazed by what I see. I stare in awe at the massive skyscrapers of the metropolis. I've never seen any city this big. Even Station Square is only about half the size of this. "Okay, Tails," starts Sonic. "find a secluded place to set us down for now. We'll try to find Eggman from the ground. We don't wanna risk being seen by either the GUN _or_ Eggman." I find a small side street to use as a runway, and land on it before braking in front of a TV shop. Currently, they're all on different channels.

Sonic hops off the Tornado as I transform it into the Cyclone. "Well, this is as good a place as any to get started," he states. However, something catches my eye in the TV shop. All of the TV's have Eggman on them! "Sonic, look at the TV's, quick." He turns his head toward the TV's, and I hear through some speakers, "HO, HO, HO, HO, HO! Hello, people of Mobius. I am the genius scientist, Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik, your soon-to-be supreme ruler. I have come to tell you all about my plan to establish the Eggman Empire. Right now, I am aboard the abandoned Space Colony ARK, and there is something special I'd like you all to see that's attached to this lovely colony!"

A video of the space colony appears on the screen. "Is this a good view, Dr. Eggman?" asks Bokkun's voice from behind the camera. "Yes, Bokkun…" he says wearily. I'd get annoyed by Bokkun, too. After he says that, half of the colony blows off, revealing a large laser cannon that looks like a nose and two panels that look like eyes. It looks like the face of someone related to Eggman to me. The laser cannon opens and starts to charge up. "Behold the Eclipse Cannon!" When it's charged, a laser fires straight at the moon. Bokkun pans the camera so the moon is in view, and after a few seconds, the laser strikes the moon. I look up in the sky, and part of the moon's crust and mantle is being completely blown to pieces.

After fifteen seconds of watching the pieces of the moon fly off, the screen cuts back to Eggman. "HO, HO, HO, HO, HO, HO! Be prepared, because that was only with six Chaos Emeralds. When I obtain the seventh one, and within twenty-four hours from now, Mobius will be completely destroyed unless all of you surrender to the Eggman Empire. Good-bye, and have a nice day, everybody!" Amy stomps her foot on the floor of the Cyclone and says, "Eggman! That sleaze! He just destroyed half the freakin' moon!" Sonic faces me and says, "Well, let's just hope he doesn't find the seventh one." That's the thing, though. He won't.

"No need to worry, Sonic." I pull the yellow Chaos Emerald out of a hidden compartment on the Cyclone. "As long as this is safe with me, you don't need to worry." Then, I hear sirens approaching, and within only a few seconds, GUN cars surround us. "Sonic the Hedgehog, you and your acquaintances are under arrest. If you should choose to resist, we have the right to shoot." Sonic sighs and says, "Tails, I'll take care of the police. You try and find a place where we can sit and plan things out." He runs off in one direction and jumps over the cars in that direction. All of the cars immediately chase after him, but I hear one of the officers say into his radio, "Send all mechanical units to pursue the fox!"

Oh, great… Now I've got to worry about them. I run the Cyclone in the other direction, hoping that I don't get impeded by the robots.


	10. Part Ten

_After more than a month of waiting, the next chapter in The Two-Tailed Fox is finally here! Hooray! Are you guys prepared to read? And hopefully you're still following my story! Enjoy, guys!_

* * *

><p>Part Ten<p>

_ It's been an interesting night, that's for sure… GUN robot after GUN robot after GUN robot just kept attacking me. Not fun! That's as blatantly as I can put it. Stupid GUN! Whether they're stupid or not, by sunrise, Amy and I finally found a place where we could think things over…_

* * *

><p>"My first question is," starts Amy. "How are we gonna get into space, let alone the ARK?" And a good question it is. "Good luck trying to get the GUN or the government to lend us a rocket," I reply. "And building one in only sixteen hours with the condition I'm in would be impossible." Then, Sonic runs by and passes us, but then he backs up, and Amy nearly tackles him as she hugs him. "Oh, Sonic! You're safe!" He pushes Amy off of him and says, "So I think I've—" However, he's interrupted by the manhole cap rumbling. He walks over for a closer look, and as he's leaning over it, he almost gets hit by it as it pops off.<p>

"Knuckles?" I exclaim as I see the red echidna pop out of the manhole. "Hey, guys. Must've gotten lost in the mines…" Lost? Knuckles got lost? I start to chuckle. "Hey, what's so funny, Tails?" he yells. I smile and reply, "Oh, it's just that getting lost isn't very like you. Anyway, what were you down in the mines for? There's nothing down there anymore." He climbs out of the manhole and responds, "I was looking for the pieces of the Master Emerald. That stupid bat girl made me break it and scatter its pieces…! Have you guys possibly seen her?"

He holds his hand at a height just a bit shorter than himself. "She's about yea tall, and she's a white bat with black wings. I think her name is Rouge or something… I don't know… She called herself the greatest jewel thief and treasure hunter… Hmph! I'm better than she'll ever be at treasure hunting…" Both my and Sonic's widen at the name. That's the person that Eggman said was working with him! "Do you happen to know where you last saw her?" asks Sonic.

"Well, yeah, she was in the Egyptian desert last… For what, I don't know, but I saw her head into some pyramid… Maybe some pieces of the Master Emerald went in there!" Oh, Knuckles; always thinking about the Master Emerald and nothing else… "That might be where Eggman's base is!" I exclaim, and Sonic nods. "Well, let's go. Tails, you'll need to fly us over there." I transform the Cyclone into the Tornado, and Sonic hops up on the back of the plane, while Knuckles climbs up on the front. It might get hard to see like this, but it's not like I'm going to be running into any other planes while I'm up there.

I start the Tornado and fly off in the direction of Egypt…

* * *

><p>Soon enough, we arrive in Egypt, and Knuckles points me toward the pyramid, and I land about half a mile away from it. "Is this the place, Knuckles?" asks Sonic when we get there. Knuckles nods and replies, "I saw Eggman go in there once, and more importantly, I saw the bat girl go in there, too." I've been thinking… "If this is one of his bases…" I start. "wouldn't that mean he'd have some kind of rocket to use so he could get to the ARK? Maybe it's still in there, too! We could get up there and stop him from firing the Eclipse Cannon!"<p>

Sonic nods but asks, "How are we gonna get in there, though. It's loaded with traps, probably, and I don't want anyone hurt." Since I'm in the most durable thing here, I volunteer. "I'll find a way in. You guys follow. The Cyclone can withstand more than any one of us alone can." Sonic gives me a thumbs-up as a green light. "All right. Just make sure you don't get hurt." I give him a thumbs-up back and walk the Cyclone over to the pyramid.

About a third of a mile away from the pyramid, Eggman robots immediately pop out of the sand. "Oh, great… More mechanical morons…" I shoot each one that comes at me, making sure that they don't get up again. I've had enough experiences with Eggman robots that just keep getting up no matter what you do to them. It seriously gets so annoying. However, these robots aren't putting up enough of a fight. I basically have to make no effort to get to the base, and breaking into it is a breeze. All I had to do was shoot a homing missile into it. Within only seconds after that, Sonic gets here and says, "All right! Nice job, Tails!" He peeks inside the base, and already, there are four forks in the path. "Which way to go…? Man, Eggman's bases just keep getting more and more confusing each time…"

I look around as well. At this point, there's nothing that seems to differentiate the four hallways. "We'll just have to go down the one that we think will get us to where we need to go," states Amy from behind us. She jumps up to the back seat of the Cyclone, and Sonic starts running down the rightmost hall at a speed the Cyclone and Knuckles can keep up with. "Let's try this, first!" Knuckles runs down the hallway after him, and I follow Knuckles.

This time, Sonic is taking on all of the robots. Those types of robots were made to take on Sonic and not me, anyway. Soon enough, we make it to a door with three keyholes in it, but no matter what I do to the door, I can't blast it open. Even Amy's hammer can't do anything, and that's saying something. "Looks like we're actually going to need to find the three keys," states Amy, who's out of breath from swinging her hammer around. And then, we all have the same thought on our minds, and we look at Knuckles.

His eyes flicker between the three of us, and he asks, "Why are you all looking at me?" Sonic shrugs his shoulders. "You're the only treasure hunter here. Why else would we be looking at you, or are you really that dense?" Sonic smiles, and Knuckles growls, clearly irritated. "You've gotta be kidding me! I'm not your errand boy, Sonic!" Amy walks over to Knuckles and stares at him with what I like to call her lecture stare. "Knuckles, how old are you?" Knuckles once again growls and replies, "I don't see how that's relevant!" Amy steps closer to him. "How old are you?"

Knuckles is clearly intimidated as he answers, "S-sixteen…" Amy smiles and responds, "You're not acting like it. You're acting like a spoiled five-year-old that whines if he doesn't get one measly thing that he wants. People probably look up to you, Knuckles, so stop acting like a child and go get those keys, got it? Or would you rather I hit you with my hammer?" Knuckles shakes his head and runs down another hall. "I'll get the keys! Just don't hit me! I don't wanna die today! I still have to restore the Master Emerald!" Man… She can instill fear into anyone…

"I can see why you broke up with her, Sonic…" I whisper. I had meant it as a joke, and Sonic laughs, but Amy pulls her hammer out and asks, "And exactly what do you mean by that, Tails?" I don't want to die, either. "I didn't mean it, Amy! Sorry! Don't take this the wrong way, but you can be kinda scary when you threaten people." And, of course, she takes it the wrong way and starts running up to me. Sonic, however, steps in front of her and says, "Whoa, Amy, he's already hurt, remember? I think what he meant to say anyway was that you're intimidating." Amy sighs and responds, "Fine… I'll leave him alone…"

We only have to wait a few more minutes before Knuckles shows up with all three keys in hand. "That wasn't as hard as I thought. You'd think Eggman would be better at hiding things." He puts the keys in the door and turns each of them, and what we find behind the door isn't pleasant. "Hey, idiots!" exclaims Bokkun. "How're you, Two Tail?" asks Rascal in his still unintimidating voice. Why can't that stupid fox just die? "Got a message for you!" says Bokkun. He pulls a TV out of his messenger bag and hands it to Sonic.

Eggman's ugly face appears on the screen. "Hello, Sonic and Co.! You must be wondering what I've got in store for you this time. Bokkun and Rascal here will be unleashing one of my new semi-creations, the Egg Golem. And now, this robot will automatically start singing my theme song from this game!" The TV shuts off, and Bokkun says, "But…" He sighs and starts singing, " I am the Eggman! That's what I am! I am the Eggman! That's what I am…! " However, Sonic stops him right there. "Just release that golem thing already."

"Aww!" exclaims Rascal. "I was enjoying how Bokkun was utterly embarrassing himself! That li'l kid'll do anything Eggman says! It's hilarious!" Bokkun angrily looks at Rascal and says, "Well, that just means I'm loyal, and at least I'm smart. What'll happen when you don't do something he says, huh? Anata no baka…" Rascal punches Bokkun in the arm. "I understood that, you know. 'Anata no baka' to you as well." For those of you who don't know, "anata no baka" means "you idiot" in Japanese. "Just shut up, you two," I command.

"Two Tail, you've been kinda outta character lately," states Rascal. "You feelin' okay?" I'm not about to mistake that for him being worried about me. "I'm fine." There's venom behind my voice. "Only around you am I out of character, and it's not really being out of character, even. I. Loathe. You. There's nothing I'd love more than to see you crash and burn." Rascal waves his finger at me. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Is that any way to talk to me?" He's starting to get on my nerves. Big time. I'm not the little kid he used to beat up. Not anymore.

"Sonic, you take care of that golem. I'll take care of li'l old Rascal here," I say to Sonic. I turn to Bokkun and shout, "Bokkun, push the button!" As Bokkun grins and pulls out a remote, I turn to Rascal. "Let's settle this. Just you and me. I'm gonna show you that you can't push me around anymore! Amy, Knuckles, make sure to stay outta this! This is my fight!" I see a huge golem rise up from the sand in the next room as Rascal smirks. "Please… You think you're gonna beat me up? In your dreams, Two Tail!" I am getting so irritated with that fox! I jump out of the Cyclone, completely ignoring the pain that I feel upon doing so, twist up my tails, and launch myself at Rascal, feet first.

"My name is Tails, nitwit!" I shout as I hit him straight in the face. "In fact, don't even call me Tails! You're gonna call me Miles, got it?" I smirk as I look at him, sitting on the floor, rubbing his cheek. Satisfaction fills me to the brim. With everything he's done to me, it feels so good to finally make him hurt! "How does it feel to be hit in the face? Huh?" He moves his mouth around a bit, then spits some blood out of it as he stands. "Y'know, there's an unspoken rule between the bully and the bullied. You're not supposed to hurt me." I raise my foot and kick him in the crotch. "Well, I just did, so you can just go to h-e-double-hockey-sticks!"

As he bends over, I punch him in the stomach and yell, "From now on, you're the crybaby! Not me! I am no longer the victim of your bullying!" As he recovers from my blows, he smiles. "What're you so happy about?" He chuckles, further raising my anger. "You picked a good time to grow a pair, but I don't think you realize the advantage I have here. First of all, I'm bigger than you. Second, I have a knife. Third, you're just a wimpy little kid! Screw your newfound will! I'm the bully, you're the victim! Deal with it!" He pulls a pocket knife out of his pocket and starts trying to slash me with it, and although it hurts to do so, I dodge every swipe. He has terrible aim.

"Tails… really hates that guy, doesn't he?" I hear Knuckles ask. "Yeah," replies Amy. "I never actually saw anything that happened to Tails, but Rascal used to beat him up nearly every day. Sonic told me it wasn't a pretty sight. He said that Tails would often come home bruised or cut badly. There wasn't much he could do when he was off fighting Egghead all the time. Their uncle couldn't talk to Rascal's parents because they wouldn't believe that their child would do such a thing." I try to tune out their conversation. It's distracting. Right now, I just need to focus on this fight, and then I notice… His right arm is bandaged up from where I hit him yesterday.

I dodge the next swipe of his knife and strike as hard as I can on his arm, and he cries out in pain, dropping the knife in the process. I pick it up and get into what is probably the worst fighting stance ever. Although I can tell he's in pain, he smiles at me. "Do you even know how to use that thing?" I slightly shake my head. "No, but I'll use it anyway if I have to!" However, both of our attentions are drawn to an explosion in the next room, where the golem is collapsing. "No!" exclaims Bokkun. "Idiot! What am I gonna tell Dr. Eggman?"

Rascal angrily sighs. "You're the idiot here, Bokkun! That thing wasn't necessarily supposed to stop Sonic, just delay him! Now let's get on the rocket before Sonic destroys the both of us!" He starts running, but I'm not gonna let him get away, especially if he's heading for the rocket! I drop the knife, run up to him, and tackle him onto the ground, and he tries to wrestle me off, but I keep holding my ground. "Dammit! Get offa me, Two Tail!" I shake my head. "No! You're not going anywhere!" I look over at Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles. "Go to the rocket! I'll stay here and hold him off while you do!"

Wow… I actually sound pretty heroic! Sonic shakes his head, though. "I'm not leaving you behind! Knuckles, run up and punch the bully in the head, will ya? Knock him out so Tails can come with us!" No! This is supposed to be my fight! "Stay outta this! This is my fight, Sonic! Not yours, not Knuckles', mine!" Knuckles runs over to us and kicks Rascal in the head just hard enough that he faints. Why in the world did he do that? I needed to settle things once and for all! Knuckles pulls me off of Rascal, and I start flailing, trying to get out of his grasp. "Tails, calm down! It's gonna be fine!" He turns his head toward Amy and asks, "Do you have any idea how to work that thing?" He points toward the Cyclone.

Amy nods. "I've watched Tails while he was using it. I think I can at least get it to the rocket." She climbs into the Cyclone, and Knuckles starts carrying me away. Within only a minute, we make it to the rocket, and we all get inside. "Tails, are you calm enough to fly this thing?" asks Sonic politely. I am, actually… I don't know what got into me back there… I guess I was just very irate… I nod, and Knuckles sets me down as I respond, "Yeah, sorry about that… I don't know why I did that…" A small smile appears on Sonic's face. "It's fine, buddy."

I walk over to the pilot's seat and strap myself in. "You guys each might wanna find a way to strap yourselves in, because I'm gonna have to point the nose of this thing straight up soon." I look behind me and see them rushing to get their seatbelts buckled, except Amy. She just found a place to secure the Cyclone. "Thanks, Amy," I say to her as she walks over to the last empty seat. "No problem," she replies. I turn back to the control panel and push the button that says "LAUNCH PREP". It turns the nose of the rocket upward, and we're being pulled onto the backs of our seats. A hatch opens at the top of the room this thing is in, and I can hear the engines warming up.

I next press the button that reads "LAUNCH", and a countdown begins on the screen inside the rocket. "T-5", and it counts all the way down to zero before we begin takeoff. After a few minutes, we're outside of the atmosphere, and a part of the rocket detaches. That's when I notice a button marked "AUTOPILOT". Convenient. I press it, and an estimated time appears on the screen. "5:06", it reads. That doesn't mean five minutes and six seconds, however. It means five hours and six minutes. "Okay, guys, it's safe to unbuckle. I just hope we don't hit any satellites or space junk."

After Sonic gets up and stretches, he walks over to a door and asks, "Hey, Tails, can I talk with you for a second?" I do need to talk with him… I walk over to him, and we both walk through the door, and we're in an empty hallway. Sonic sits down on the floor, and I follow suit. "Hey, is something wrong, li'l bro?" he inquires. "You know that, whatever it is, you can tell me." I sigh. "I just… don't know what's wrong with me. I just had this lust for payback when I was fighting him. It was like I didn't have any control over what I was doing, and yet I wanted to do it, but a part of me wanted to stop, and… and… It was just so scary!"

My head falls onto his chest and I start crying. It really was scary! He starts stroking the back of my head and calmingly mumbles into my ear, "Hey, hey… It's okay…" I look up at him and yell, "No, it's not! What if that happens when we're doing something important?" He puts a finger up to his mouth. "Shh…" Wait, did I just yell at him? Oh, gosh… "I'm sorry… I just don't want anything like that to happen again…" But I know it's going to happen sometime or another. I just know it… Sonic leans his head down and gives me a light kiss on the forehead. Don't you guys dare go and get the wrong idea from that, though, you hear me? He and I are _not_ gay. Goodness, no. It's just a comfort thing. He and I are brothers, not lovers.

I'm only eight. I still have my moments, and Sonic understands that. "Y'know, I once had it out big time for somebody. I was right around your age, too." I look at him from curiosity and ask, "Really?" He nods in reply. "Yup, and there were times where I was considering doing exactly what you did, and one time I actually did, granted I ended up getting beaten up pretty bad afterward, but it felt good while I was doing it. I wouldn't have felt guilty if I had somehow killed him. After a while however, I started to feel just like you are right now. The need for payback will pass. Don't worry about that. I'm sure that, one day, Rascal will get what he deserves. Right now, though, we need to focus on what's happening right now. Can you do that for me, li'l buddy?"

I sniffle and nod. "Good," says Sonic. "Now let's get ready to kick some Eggman butt…! In about five hours… Man, I hate waiting! Can't this thing go any faster?" That gets a chuckle out of me. Sonic sure is good at cheering people up. He's right about focusing on the now. ARK, here we come!

* * *

><p><em>Hopefully, you guys liked that chapter, and please review! The third and final part of the Sonic Adventure 2 adaptation will be coming soon, and after that, I'm going to do somewhat of an adaptation of Sonic X Season 3. The changes of that adaptation, however, will be much different than the changes in the other adaptations of this story. The details of the Sonic X adaptation will be given in the next update. Until then, bye!<em>

-Camobamo1


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